Blinded
by emmals16
Summary: After a tense battle with marines in the middle of a storm Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro end up stranded on an island all alone together. Will Zoro and Sanji be able to put aside their blinding pride to assist their actual blinded captain?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello fellow fans!**

 **I have always loved the good ol' stranded and survival stories. So, I decided I should try one with One Piece!**

 **I hope I don't end up screwing this up because I'm actually feeling rather good about this story. I've been going over plot and charector develpoment and all of that jazz for a few days now and ended up writing this whole ting at midnight.**

 **I do hope I don't dissapoint.**

 **Enjoy!**

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The storm raged on around the Strawhat crew. They had been caught up in what seemed like the upteenth billionth storm since they first embarked on the feared Grand Line. It seemed to them that it was beginning to implant itself in their normal routine.

This time, however, was a completely different circumstance. The storm was the normality of the situation, but the fact that a marine ship had decided to pursue them even while the storm was going on made it that way.

The marine vessel had spotted them a little after they had left a small pit-stop island. Once they had seen them it was as though they had promised themselves that they would not let the notorious Strawhat pirates to escape from their grasps.

Nami was blowing through map after map trying to find an island that they could head towards for refuge. Unfortunately for her and everyone else on the Going Merry she was having no such luck in finding any such place. The rain that was soaking her and her maps weren't very helpful either.

Luffy was hanging on the mast for dear life as wave after wave slammed into the ship, and Chopper was right by his side screaming his head off as he spotted every said wave coming toward them. Even though Luffy was occupied with holding on he still made himself useful by beating down any marine that dared come within a few feet from him and his doctor.

Zoro was by the galley slicing through each and every marine that deemed themselves worthy of trying to take down Pirate Hunter Zoro. Sanji was on the stairs protecting his Nami~swan from being attacked while she was preoccupied by more important matters. Matters that could enevitable save lives if they could hurry.

Robin was in the barracks trying her best to get rid off the leaking water. It was quite difficult for her since she was a Devil Fruit user, but since she was the only one available to do the job she didn't really have a choice. Usopp was sometimes scurrying down there to be sure she wasn't drowning and then immediately going back on deck to assist with the fight by shooting at the men on the marine ship instead of their own.

It was quite obvious that the Strawhats were winning even though there was plenty of aggravated screaming and irritated remarks from crewmember to crewmember. Eventually though, right when the marines were beginning to run short on men, the marines played a dirty trick. A trick that more than evened the odds between each of the crews.

The sound of metal hitting against something hard echoed across the Going Merry's deck. The Strawhats would have assumed that they were cannon balls if it wasn't for the fact that they did a pathetic job at doing what they were designed to do. There were half a dozen spheres on deck that had several holes in them. They were a shiny metallic color and just stayed in place as the ship rocked back and forth with every large wave. It was as though they had implanted themselves in the deck and would have to forcibly be removed.

The Strawhats watched curiously in between attacks and other duties they had been assigned by others or assigned themselves. They were about to laugh at the marines about their failed attack when suddenly a gas burst from them.

"What the hell?!" Zoro yelled as he backed away from one of the spheres he was close to. He did not intend to get caught up in the gas, but even through his struggles to get away he was caught in it along with Sanji who was mere feet away. The two of them prepared themselves for pain or suffocation, but no such thing came.

"Oi," The blond cooked called to Zoro, "What the hell's this stuff marimo?"

Zoro ignored the "marimo" insult only because of the sudden gasping sound that went off near the mast. Zoro and Sanji turned toward the noise to see Chopper and Luffy struggling with the gas. Chopper fell face down on the wooden deck while Luffy's arm retracted from being wrapped around the mast several times.

"Luffy!" Zoro yelled as he rushed over to him. Two marines with swords blocked his path and slashed toward him. Zoro could tell that these two marines weren't just pawns to be wasted against lowly thieving pirates. They seemed to have at least some skill in swordsmanship. The green haired swordsman scowled as he checked back to his captain and Chopper. He was a bit shocked to see Luffy struggling to stay on his hands and knees and Chopper out cold.

Sanji was sure to check to be sure his Nami~swan was perfectly fine and he found that she wasn't even noticing that gas filled spheres had went off on deck. Usopp suddenly burst back through the doors and nearly tripped as he ran back on deck.

The sniper was deeply confused by the fact that gas was everywhere on deck. He spotted Zoro fending off two marines, but what really struck him was seeing the remaining two Devil Fruit users struggling by the mast seemingly from the gas. He rushed toward them trying to keep his balance from the violently rocking ship as he approached.

A horrible burning sensation was wracking Luffy's entire body. His vision was fading and his breathing was coming in small gasps, but nevertheless, he was still managing to keep consciousness and crawl over to his now prone doctor. If the gas was affecting him in this way he couldn't imagine what it was doing to his smaller nakama.

"Ch-Chopper . . ." he gasped as he was now only inches away from him, "c-can you h-h-hear me?"

No answer was provided and Luffy began to worry. He put his hand on Chopper's back and realized that the only way his doctor was breathing was through tiny gasps of air. Knowing that it was the gases fault he tried thinking of something that could help his nakama even though his own body was beginning to fail him.

As an idea came into his mind Luffy tipped his head down and allowed his straw hat to roll off of his head. Luffy took the hat and covered the reindeer's face with it. Luffy was pretty dim, but he did know that his hat should help filter out the air.

Luffy suddenly heard stumbling footsteps approach him. His vision was pretty much all black now and he couldn't tell who this person was. Feeling some helplessness creep into Luffy's being he weakly lashed out toward the person to protect Chopper only to have his wrists caught.

"L-Luffy! It's me!" he heard a familiar voice shout in a tone that spoke shock and concern.

"Us-opp?" he questioned trying to get rid of the blackness that clouded his eyes. _How am I supposed to fend off enemies if I can't even see?_ He questioned himself.

The sniper was a bit worried by now. The gas was having no affect on him and it was even thicker than it was when he had first stumbled onto deck, but that being said, it seemed like Luffy was dying right in front of him. Before Usopp could even get a chance to help his captain, Luffy gave him an order.

'Usopp!" he gasped out trying to keep his voice firm even though he could barely breath, "Get Chopper inside! A-And don't let him or Robin come o-out!" he shouted as loud as he could to show how serious he was.

Usopp was a bit shocked by the firm and serious tone Luffy was supplying. In front of the sniper he saw Luffy fumbled for the unconscious Chopper with the straw hat on his face. Once he grabbed him he wrapped the prone doctor in his arms and shakily handed him to Usopp.

"K-keep Shank's h-hat on his f-f-face!" Luffy ordered his nakama. The look of oncoming unconsciousness was very clear on his face. He was deathly pale with his eyelids drooping halfway over unfocused eyes. But, even though that look was there he still had enough fierceness in his expression to enforce his seriousness.

Usopp didn't dare question his captain right now and he hurried away with the bundle in his arms. The sniper was pretty certain that Chopper needed to get away from the gas as fast as he could and the hat was elongating his time by only a short amount apparently.

Once the sniper made it inside the galley he set his doctor in the corner so that any vicious waves didn't make the unconscious reindeer fall off of anything or roll around.

It seemed like Usopp was getting better at predicting situations because right when he set Chopper down in the corner a jolt of force lunged the sniper toward the wall along with several of the kitchen cabinets and the items in them.

On deck Zoro had finally finished off the two marine swordsmen and was rushing for his seemingly prone captain. The gas was still coming out of the metallic spheres and the swordsman took liberty in kicking every one that was in his path off of the ship.

As soon as he made it to his captain a giant jolt of force knocked him off his feet and he landed on the railings. Water drenched him from head to toe when the wave that caused the jolt washed over not only him, but everyone else on deck. Including his captain whom had plunged toward the railing just as he did.

Zoro felt a surge of panic go through him when he saw his captain falling toward the water seemingly unable to stop himself like he was able to every time he accidentally fell off of his "special seat" on normal days. Zoro quickly reached for his friend and caught him in the nick of time by his upper arm. He pulled the now obviously prone boy closer to himself so he could get a better hold on him. Zoro had seen what Luffy did earlier for Chopper near the mast. His captain had shielded the reindeer from any more gas intake by filtering the air with his straw hat. Zoro looked around for something to use similarly. The gas had stopped coming out of the remaining metallic spheres and was slowly fading away, but even so, there was still plenty of it left to harm his already weakly gasping captain.

Zoro then thought of something to use. He reached over to his bicep and untied the black bandana. It being soaked by seawater would probably help out with the gas intake even more so then it would with regular clothe. The green haired swordsman unfurled the cloth to some extent then pinned it to his unconscious captain in his arms.

Sanji was a ways away from first mate and captain kicking the spheres off the ship, getting rid of remaining marines, and trying to assist in any tasks Nami-san had for him. He, however, got distracted by the sight of the marimo huddled against the railing holding his shitty captain in a delicate way. _What had happened to him?_ The cook took a half step toward them before another marine came attacking him.

"Why can't you guys just leave!" the blond cook yelled as he launched the pathetic marine over the railing and into the seawater below.

He heard a gasp in the direction Nami-san was and immediately focused on her. She was clasping a map in her hands and was focused entirely on that specific one.

The redhead swung around to face him, "Sanji-kun, there an island east of here!" she all but screamed. The look in her eyes suddenly gave the blond haired cook hope as his eyes turned into hearts and a loving smile crept onto his face.

"Nami!swan's so wonderful when she finds islands!" He boasted.

Nami rolled her eyes as she approached the wheel. The navigator hadn't been paying much attention on event going on on deck so when she spotted the gas covering the deck and Zoro with Luffy leaning against the railing a breath hitched in her throat a bit. _What's that gas?_ she wondered. It was clearly not affecting anyone but Luffy. Nami noted that Chopper and Robin weren't on deck as she navigated which way was east.

As soon as she turned the ship to head for the island she was faced with a horrifying shock. A giant wave was headed straight for the Going Merry. It towered above the ship almost doubling its size.

Right before the wave hit all that could be heard was Nami's blood curdling scream for them to hold on tightly.

As soon as the wave hit, Zoro had the wind knocked out of him. The once firmly grasped Luffy in his arms were suddenly being wrenched from his hands. The fact that he felt his captain's body slipping from his grasp sent a panic ripping through him worse than anything that day. The ocean was a threat to Luffy when it was calm on a normal sunny day, but in a storm of this magnitude it was practically a death sentence.

As the wave pushed both first mate and captain off of the ship, Zoro frantically clasped his captain's limp hand in his as a desperate last minute attempt to be sure he didn't lose him and have to drag him back up to the surface like he seemed to always have to.

Soon he felt himself become completely engulfed in the ocean. The green haired swordsman was tossled back and forth between rough waves as he tried to get back to the surface for not only his, but his captain's sake too. He felt his lungs burning from lack of oxygen and fought the urge to try and retrieve a breath of air he knew would never come as long as he was forced to stay under water.

After what seemed like an eternity Zoro finally broke the surface and heaved in as much air as he possibly could. As soon as he did he squeezed the hand in his to be sure that Luffy was still with him as he brought his captain up to the surface. It dawned on the swordsman as soon as he brought his captain above the rough water that Luffy hadn't had a clear breath of oxygen in quite a while. That made the swordsman's stomach drop especially after he saw the way that Luffy's head flopped back against his shoulder for support and the way no gasp for breath was heard from his prone captain. His face was white as a sheet with a peaceful expression laced across it.

The swordsman was so lost in his concerns regarding his helpless captain that he didn't even notice the form coming toward him as quick as it could.

"Oi, marimo!" he heard a strangled gasp ahead of him. He was met with the sight of golden hair and a curly eyebrow coming his way. _Curly Brow . . ._

"Shitty cook!" he called realizing who the form approaching was. He silently scolded himself when he accidently alowed some of his concern to leak into his address to the blond cook.

Sanji finally got close enough to them that he could see for himself both of their faces. He groaned at the matter that his precious Nami-san wanted him to come get stupid marimo, but it wasn't until he realized that Luffy was with him that he understood that it was most likely a good thing he came especially since the shitty swordsman seemed to be slightly out of it. Possibly from being dunked half a dozen times under the water.

Sanji's eyes wandered to his prone captain. Even though he had paid more attention to Nami-san he still caught glimpses here and there of the affect the gas was taking of his captain. He would have gone over to assist him if it wasn't for the marines trying to attack Nami-san. It was vital to find an island to take refuge at as soon as possible, but now that he saw Luffy's pale face resting on marimo's shoulder it made his heart clench and he longed that he had gone and helped.

"What are you doing out here shitty cook?" Zoro asked as a newly formed wave dunked him and Luffy under once again. He assumed that Curly Brow had also been dunked, but he found that he had two hands gripping his arm pulling him to the surface and concluded it couldn't be anyone else.

Zoro broke the surface again and gasped for breath once again while Sanji fixed his captain's head so he could get as much oxygen as he needed.

As Sanji touched his Shitty captain's face he felt how cold he was. It was then that he knew that he needed to get marimo and him back to the ship as soon as possibly. The Strawhat cook spun around to try and track how far away the ship had gotten only to be met with yet another monstrous wave blocking his view.

In a last ditch effort to not get separated from the other two members of the monster trio he gripped onto both Zoro and Luffy's shirts and as the wave enveloped them once again all any of them could hear was, "Don't let go of him Marimo!"

Then everything went black for them both.

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 **Well, I don't think I did to bad on that . . .** **but, of course I would love to hear all of your opinions. Please review and I will respond to any comments I feel need addressing. I do read all comments. I plan on having multiple chapters of this, but I'm not too certain how many. I'm going to approximate around five -seven maybe.**

 **Anyways, I hope to have the next chapter up in a day or two so like I sai dplease review! It'll inpire me to get it done!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, turns out 1-2 days ended up being 1-5 days.**

 **Please don't murder me . . .** **Oh, I was asked when this takes place. I felt that it should take place after Skypeia so then the crew has a more refined relationship with Robin. That's just what I initially meant for it to take place so . . . yeah!**

 **Oh and thank you all for the wonderful reviews and favorites.**

 **As for the people who just followed my story, I hope as I go on I can pursuade you into favoriting ;)**

 **Anyway I hope you all enjoy!**

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The sound of seagulls and water splashing onto a flat surface was what Zoro awoke to. It was quite a tranquil sound to wake up to instead of the sounds of Sanji screaming at Luffy about eating things he wasn't supposed to like usual.

That recollection brought the green haired swordsman's mind back to current events. _Luffy and Sanji huh?_ Zoro clutched his right hand where he had been holding tightly onto his captain's. But, now all he felt was air. Emptiness. And that scared him beyond belief.

His eyes shot open and took in the brightness of the sun overhead. Judging from it's position it was around noon. The storm had happened during evening which meant he had been passed out for more than twelve hours.

Feeling like he had way too much time to be laying around he pushed himself onto his elbows. Stiffness overwhelmed his body. It felt like he was being held down by like twenty people. _Luffy's probably already up and moving._ He thought to himself feeling hopeful. Zoro took a look around at the terrain he had washed up on. It looked like a jungle of sorts. Giant trees with vines hanging off of them cut off any other sights that may be within the trees. Ahead of him was the ocean. And it was literally _right_ in front of him. His feet were actually still in the sea water. That also made the swordsman uncomfortable.

A seeping hole had emerged in his stomach. Luffy was nowhere to be seen. He was right next to the water, no footprints were visible on the sand, and his captain was no where to be seen.

"Oh no" Zoro mumbled to himself as he scanned the ocean's surface. The swordsman finally pushed himself up to his feet. He had to find Luffy _now_. Zoro could only hope that his captain had somehow been washed up on another part of the island. If he wasn't . . . he was as good as dead after more than twelve hours in the ocean.

"Luffy! Where are ya?!" Zoro called as loud as his hoarse voice could manage. After having gallons upon gallons of seawater making it's way to the back of his throat it left it feeling like someone had had him gargle nails.

The green haired swordsman began to run along the coast frantically calling for his captain.

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In an attempt to breath, the blond haired chef managed to choke out the remaining seawater in his lungs. Sanji had a horrible headache that continuously felt as though he were being hit in the head by a bat.

He began to open his eyes to be met with blinding rays of sunlight.

 _How long was I out?_

Sanji had his head turned to it's side and could see that he was on a sandy surface. A beach. Trees were a few yards from where he was currently laying and cast a faint shadow over him shielding him from the worst of the sun.

The chef was about to get up when he felt something pressing against his chest. His eyes went to hearts when he imagined that it was a mermaid that saved him from the watery depths of the ocean, but when he turned his head he was met with a view of a wild head of raven hair. Definately not a mermaid.

"Oi, Luffy. Get off of me." Sanji mumbled as he noticed his hand still clutched two pieces of fabric. One was still tightly locked onto his shitty captain's red vest while his other was loosely holding a piece of torn white shirt. _Oh great. I lost shitty marimo._

The blond chef moved to sit up with his captain's head still lying on his chest. He let go of his red vest and dropped the white cloth that was completely useless now.

'Luffy, I said get off." He again mumbled, but in a more enforcing way as to tell him that he was completely serious.

When once again no movement was made by his captain, Sanji felt a nervous feeling overcome his originally annoyed one. He set his hand on his seemingly prone captain's shoulder and shook lightly. Even after that, Luffy still remained as quiet and still as ever.

Sanji knew this wasn't normal. Even after battles with strong opponents when Luffy ended up getting severely injured, he would usually lay with his arms flung up above him and snore until he finally woke up or was moved. It was alarming to see him so still and quiet. Sanji didn't like it. He was too used to the snoring and the tossing and turning in his captain's usual sleep routine to find the way he was currently laying even somewhat comforting.

In a swift motion Sanji turned Luffy over so he was laying on his back in the sand. The the cook sat up completely and looked around him so he could get a better look. It seemed like the island was completely abandoned. Marimo was nowhere to be seen either.

Once he was sure he was alone and in no way in danger he leaned over his captain's still form. Luffy had a little more color to his face that he did when they were in the water. That seemed to be a good sign. He did notice though that he seemed rather flushed. A taint of red also showed on his cheeks and forehead. That could mean he had a fever.

Sanji put his index and middle finger to his captain neck and became completely focused and motionless. After a couple unnerving seconds he felt it.

The slow beat of his captain's heart.

The cook noted that Luffy's breathing was slow also, but took comfort in the fact that he was at least doing so.

With a sigh of relief, the blond cook settled next to his unconscious captain. He was fine. At least for now. Now all they had to do was find marimo and the ship and then they were home free. He probably made it sound easier than it really was. But, optimism was usually a good thing, right?

After maybe ten minutes of sitting and going through his thoughts, Sanji suddenly heard a cry in the distance. Maybe not a cry exactly. More like a frantic call. Yeah, that sounded more like it.

The cook suddenly jumped up to his feet unsteadily. This looked to be a desolate island. If that was true then there shouldn't be any voices besides his own and his captain's when he woke up. That voice could only be one person.

"Marimo?" he questioned quietly from behind a rock that was nearby.

Sanji didn't see anyone running around on the beach whatsoever. He probably had to go find that stupid marimo so he didn't end up getting lost somewhere. The cook kneeled down next to his captain and hoisted his limp body onto his back. He couldn't very well leave him alone on this island in which they had no idea what could be lurking in those trees.

Once he situated his prone captain and had a good hold on him, Sanji trudged through the sand over to where he heard the stupid marimo's voice. The idiot was probably chopping down trees and killing random fish trying to find them. He could be known as a natural disaster on a leash, and once that leash was taken off that's when the disaster takes over.

"Luffy! Shitty cook!"

 _What did he call me?_ Sanji finally spotted the green haired swordsman trudging about mid-shin deep in the water looking through it before turning to look near the tree line. Except the difference this time was he spotted the golden haired man.

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Nami had been looking out toward the ocean clutching her maps close to her ever since she asked Sanji-kun to go try and help Zoro and Luffy. They hadn't come back yet. What was she supposed to do? She couldn't think of anything except to go look on nearby islands.

They had successfully made it out of the storm, but they couldn't say the same about their three nakama. The last they saw of Luffy and Zoro were them being washed off of the ship and the last they saw of Sanji was when he went to go retrieve them.

The navigator jumped at the sound of a door opening behind her. That door hadn't opened since Usopp ran into it with Chopper in his arms apparently. Usopp had told her what Luffy ordered him to do through the wooden door when she tried to open it but couldn't get it to budge.

"How's Chopper doing?" Nami asked the sniper when she heard him approach her from behind. She assumed that Usopp could tell that the gas was pretty much gone and wouldn't get into the galley as long as they closed the door after they exited or entered.

Usopp sighed and joined her in looking at the water, "I don't really know. He's still completely knocked out." the sniper informed her, "Robin said she thinks she knows what that gas was, but wants to come out on deck to see if her 'hypothesis' is correct"

Nami tilted her head to the side, "What hypothesis?"

Usopp shrugged as he motioned toward the galley as though telling her to go ask Robin herself. Nami looked back at the cean one more time as though she would suddenly see those three familiar faces and have the weight lifted from her shoulders, but even with that hope when she looked all she could see was the bright blue water with the light of the afternoon sun reflecting off of it.

When Nami entered the galley she was met with the sight of an unconscious Chopper on the kitchen table with Robin seemingly studying him. Which was a bit creepy in the navigator's opinion.

"So, uh . . . what's your hypothesis, Robin?" She asked after watching her uneasily for a few seconds.

The raven haired woman looked up as though she hadn't noticed Nami had walked in. She seemed to mull over her own theory for a while before responding.

"You had said you didn't even notice the gas was around the ship until you turned around correct?"

Nami seemed startled then nodded in questionable confirmation. Robin also nodded then turned to Usopp.

"And you had said that while you were on deck you didn't feel anything different that could've been caused by the gas." Robin said not seeking any confirmation, "If captain-san and doctor-san were the only two feeling the affects then there's a possibility that it was specifically made for Devil Fruit users."

With that the historian stood and began wandering over to the door. Before she could open it and step out on deck Usopp gripped her arm to stop her.

"Luffy had said not to let you or Chopper outside of the galley." the sniper informed her.

With a calm gaze Robin looked into Usopp's eyes, "Captain-san's not here." the words sent silent chills down Usopp and Nami's spines, "And his ordering you to be sure we do not go onto deck is even more the reason for me to test to see if it was in fact only meant for Devil Fruit users."

Usopp reluctantly let go of Robin's arm. Robin was usually right with the things she says. Even though Luffy had given him an order right now he had to trust his remaining crewmates to do what they think is for the greater good.

He watched as Robin opened the galley door and stepped outside. Usopp watched her for several seconds until her knees buckled and she sank down into a sitting position.

"Robin!" Nami called as she knelt down beside the older woman, "You okay?"

Robin had her hands cuffed around her mouth, but her eyes were studying the deck as she did so.

"It's just as I thought." She finally said a bit faintly, "That gas you said was out here . . . it was made out of sea stone."

Robin shakily got to her feet seemingly shaming herself at the weak feeling she had all over.

"If this is after almost a whole day of it being all over the ship and it was still enough to knock me down . . ." She turned back toward Chopper's still form on the table with much softer eyes than she had before,"Then we should be more than concerned about captain-san and doctor-san."

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 ***Sigh* I hope I did alright for a follow up chapter.**

 **I always feel very nervous whenever I post chapters, but I hope I didn't dissapoint.**

 **Anywho, I will try my best to have it up in about 3 days. I am going to try my best trust me :)**

 **Please review! I always read 'em**

 **Until next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again guys! I'm happy to say that the next chapter is up!**

 **"Thanks, like we couldn't see that."**

 ***laughs awkwardly* yeah, please don't murder me for it being a little late again.**

 **Thank You all for the favorites and follows and especially reviews. I just love hearing people's comments on my work!**

 **GehesiahEmerald** \- **You always confuse the hell outa me with your reviews :D The "golden haired man" was Sanji. Sorry if it was a bit confusing. I was switching the perspective at that point so it might have been confusing.**

 **a1wonder50** **\- I wouldn't be surprised either. I know that they have seastone bullets so they might have even more stuff down their sleeve. :)We'll see!**

 **loofahlover \- Yeah, I've seen alot of ZoSan fanfics, but there's barely any that involve them just as buddies/rivals. I'm all for a good ZoSan, I just like to try writing stuff where it's nakamaship instead of romance. **

**SilenceOfRain7-** **I do to :) apparently that's why I'm writing one. You should check out a story called Blindfold if you haven't yet. I know _I_ loved it.**

 **Darthvaderyoda -** **Okay!**

 **Disclaimer-I wish I owned One Piece, but I do not. So don't sue me for the twenty-some dollars in my jeans.**

 **PLEASE ENJOY!**

* * *

"Where the hell were you!" Zoro roared as he approached the blond, "I've been searching for more than an hour!"

Sanji held his ground as Zoro got right up into his face, "Back up marimo, your breath isn't the way I want to die."

"What did you say curley-brow?!" the green haired swordsman yelled as he gripped Sanji's collar and pulled him almost up off of the ground with the cook unable to do anything due to his arms being occupied with his captain's weight, "Dare you to repe-"

Zoro stopped mid-sentence suddenly seeing the limp boy on the cook's back. His face was hidden by Sanji's shoulder and the mess of wild raven hair. He immediately put the cook back down gentler than he wanted to in terms for the cook and went to Sanji's side to try to see his captain's face. Sanji didn't stop him figuring that Luffy was most likely the main cause for the swordsman to be in the mood he was in. It wouldn't exactly have been fun for the cook to wake up without any sure fact that his captain didn't get wrenched from both of their grasps, sinking to the bottom of the ocean. Sanji let out a gentle sigh. _Stupid marimo must've been worried sick._

Zoro brushed a bit of the raven hair out of his captain's eyes so he could see his face. The swordsman's stomach dropped when he saw how pale and sickly Luffy looked. It unnerved him and he didn't feel the need to hide that fact from Sanji like he would for normal circumstances, but this was definitely not a normal circumstance.

"How long has he been like this?" He asked the cook in a monotonous tone never moving his gaze from his captain.

Sanji raised a curly eyebrow and studied the swordsman before replying, "I woke up about half an hour ago." he informed the obviously concerned swordsman.

"I'm not worried about you, cook." Zoro grumbled.

Sanji ignored him the best he could, "He was just like this when I did so. Probably has been in this state since we washed up on shore."

It was quiet for multiple seconds following Sanji's answer. Zoro was trying to think, that was completely obvious the the cook. He was doing the exact same thing. So much had happened. So much still had to happen before they were anywhere near safe from harm. They had to somehow survive this island they had no information about with their currently prone captain. They had to somehow contact the Merry Go so they could get rescued.

Sanji wanted desperately to see that his Nami~swan and Robin~chwan were alright. The storm was still happening after he dived off of the ship. They could have very well been consumed by a feral wave and he could never know about it.

Zoro was thinking of other matters. Evening was coming and before the sun goes down for the night they had several things to do in order to guarantee survival. Luffy would most likely be begging for meat when he woke up so either him or curly-brow would have to go hunting. A fire was a necessity and so was fresh water which, again, one of them would have to go look for it. However, with Luffy unconscious it'd be harder to get what needed to be done done due to someone having to be keeping an eye on him almost constantly.

They also had no idea what that gas did to Luffy. He could very well need professional medical help. Something neither him nor Sanji had.

"It'll be night soon." Zoro finally said after a while, "We should probably find some sort of campsite."

Sanji looked at him from the corner of his eyes. He was right. In an hour or two they most likely wouldn't be able to see much due to the sun being down. If they wanted to stay alive then finding a place to stay would be a top priority right now.

"Okay," Sanji told him as he turned to face the forest, "We could stay right near the tree line. It'll give us shade from the sun and at the same time keep us far enough away from any predators in the forest."

"Sounds fine. I'll go get firewood while you prep the campsite." Zoro said as he strangely agreed without argument. _I suppose circumstances can change people's attitude somewhat_ Sanji thought.

The blond cook felt like their arrangement seemed fair enough. Zoro did have his swords still and they'd probably be better at chopping wood then his kicks would. Sanji gave a slight nod before he wandered over to the tree line along with the swordsman.

"I'll be back before sundown." with that Zoro scurried off into the forest.

Sanji let out a long sigh as he examined the spot he and marimo chose for a campsite. It wasn't much. A log blocked the trees so they would be somewhat hidden by any creatures lurking in the forest. Rocks also were around the site in a lazy semi circle.

The blond cook set his captain down in a highly shaded part of the site as gently as he could. It looked as though Luffy was getting a fever based upon the flushed appearance of his skin except for the pink on his forehead and cheeks.

"Crap." Sanji muttered to himself after he tried to measure Luffy's temperature on his forehead, but he pulled back after he realized how hot it truly was, "We need to get a compress for ya captain."

The cook looked around for a cloth. _Maybe I shouldn't have dropped marimo's torn shirt._ Then Sanji looked down at his own clothes. They were a better choice of clothes than he normally wore, but he couldn't think of such things at times like this. He could always get new clothes somewhere. Nami-san would surely give him a loan of beli because Nami-san was kind hearted and would hopefully understand.

Luffy on the other hand couldn't be simply bought anew. He was priceless.

Sanji slid off his black tux and grabbed his blue striped collared shirt with both hands. With a swift movement he tore a long strip of fabric off. He quickly ran over to the ocean and dipped the fabric into the cool water looking behind him at his captain every few seconds.

He ringed out the fabric and ran back over to Luffy setting the compress onto the unconscious boy's forehead.

Luffy's face contorted for a split second before going back to the peaceful expression it had been for the time up til then. With another sigh Sanji flung his tux on top of his captain before leaning back against the log.

He felt unbelievably stiff since he awoke on shore. His back ached more than anything so being able to just sit down and take a break for a split second felt truly amazing. He felt his body wanting him to close his eyes. The slight breeze, the sound of waves and birds, and his resting position was more than enough to lull him into a sweet sleep.

Sanji snuck a look at his captain. He was still lying there silently. The only movement being his chest rising and falling shallowly. His face showed no expression whatsoever. It was unbelievable strange and eerie for the cook. But, even so, he decided to not dread on it.

With a sigh Sanji looked out into the horizon possibly hoping to see the glimpse of the Going Merry, but no such sight was there.

"You better wake up soon shitty captain" Sanji said to the prone boy sleeping in the sand in a voice that showed more care than anything, "I'm not sure how long this buddy-buddy thing between Marimo and I can last."

* * *

Nami and Robin had taken to resting in the kitchen at the table. Their heads on their arms sleeping. They didn't want to leave their doctor alone, and they were exhausted from the day's events. So, they decided to sleep right beside Chopper in case he was to wake up.

Usopp had gone outside to check the horizon a final time for any islands that Sanji, Luffy, and Zoro might have been washed up on before they dropped anchor for the night. He didn't like the idea of stopping their search even if it was night. Their nakama could be in big trouble as they slept away and they would not even know about it. He felt their responsibility was to find them as soon as physically possible which was apparently not including night.

When he finished looking he gave a defeated sigh and went to lower the anchor. He just couldn't dread on such things he supposed. Nami and Robin were clearly exhausted and Chopper was obviously incapable of doing anything whatsoever being unconscious and all. Even he would say he was tired. Since Sanji jumped off of the boat Usopp had to do three times the usual work he would be asked to do. Chopper and Robin were unable to help even if they wanted to so that added even more to his to-do list. Running back and forth trying to assist Nami in any way he could to help them all make it out of the storm and away from the marines had definitely taken it's tole on him.

It was then that it dawned on the sniper. He had been pretty much the only one capable of defending the Merry at that time. Nami could've helped of course, but she had to concentrate on navigating. Robin and Chopper were out so that left him. The Great Captain Usopp. He was their brave warrior for that time. He probably was right now too, being the only one truthfully conscious. He'd probably be the one to keep watch that night also. Even though he was dead tired now that he was actually paying attention.

"Usopp! Get in here!" The sniper heard Nami scream followed by a large cry and a few smashing noises.

" _Seis Fleur_ "

Usopp barged into the galley to see Chopper in his human point with Robin's arms restraining him. A large hole was in the wall and the table was broken in half. Nami was leaning back against the counter seemingly a bit shocked by Chopper's apparent outburst.

"Ch-Chopper calm down!" the sniper cried as he approached the human-reindeer. Robin had successfully pinned his arms behind his back and had his head locked down.

Usopp looked up at the doctor's face. His eyes were wide in what seemed to be a mix of confusion and terror. That was a concern for the sniper. What was the doctor so afraid of?

"Chopper, it's fine." Usopp reassured forcibly keeping his voice calm and even, "See? It's me, Usopp. There's Nami and Robin."

At the sounds of their names the doctor's eyes eased, "Guys?" he asked in a hoarse voice. So hoarse it made the sniper cringe slightly.

Robin immediately got rid of the grown appendages that were used to keep the rampaging doctor at bay. He seemed to have just had a sprit of incredulousity.

"Wha-what happened?" Chopper asked as he changed back into his normal form holding his head and swaying ever so slightly. His eyes were a bit unfocused and glazed over, but he tried his best to focus on his now known nakama that surrounded him.

Nami stepped away from the counter and kneeled down beside the doctor. She put her hands on his shoulder to steady him and gave a warm smile that he could or couldn't see. Either way, the navigator was just glad that the gas hadn't made him completely crazy. Luffy was definitely crazy enough he didn't need to be made into a rampaging loon for the rest of his life.

Nami's smile wavered to a straight line in thought of her captain. She hoped with all of her heart that he was up and moving just as Chopper was even if he wasn't 100% steady yet.

"What do you remember doctor-san?" Robin asked as she took a seat on the lopsided bench next to them.

"I-I remember hanging onto the . . . mast with Luffy when suddenly I felt very weak and blacked out."

Chopper's eyes focused on the sniper in the doorway as though he had the answers to all the questions in his head. It made Usopp nervous. He didn't want to explain all of what had happened to the younger nakama. Judging by the condition he and Luffy were in Chopper would most likely start freaking out about Luffy as soon as he got any information.

"Well, the marines seem to have a new toy of theirs." Usopp stated in a light hearted kind of way.

"The substance that made you unconscious was a seastone gas, doctor-san. It made you unconscious for nearly 24 hours." Robin said ignoring any light heartedness that Usopp may have been trying to give off. They had to get straight to the point after all.

Chopper looked at her with wide shocked eyes, "What did you say?!" he all but screamed.

He looked down at his trembling legs then, as though coming to a horrid realization the doctor shot his gaze back up to Usopp in the doorway who was looking sort of uncomfortable.

"Where's Luffy?" The doctor asked remembering his captain being by his side at the didn't remember anything that happened during the time he was unconscious, but he highly doubted that Luffy was any better off than he was.

A bright yellow caught the reindeer's eye. It laid on the counter with care instead of looking as though it had just been tossed on to the surface with no care in the world. It was the crew's symbol.

It was Luffy's straw hat.

"Why . . . why's Luffy's hat here? Shouldn't he have it?" Chopper asked anyone who was listening as he continued to stare at the hat.

"Chopper," Usopp said catching the doctor's gaze once more, "Luffy's . . . gone."

"So is Zoro and Sanji-kun." Nami finished for Usopp.

Silence overtook the kitchen. The only sound was the slight creaking of the floorboards as the ship rocked against small waves. The three Strawhats looked nervously at Chopper as what they had said processed in the doctor's mind.

"Where did they go?" The doctor finally asked in a little above a whisper.

"We . . . we don't know. We have an idea and are searching nearby islands for them." Nami answered in a hushed tone that she seemed to try to make soothing in some way.

"Wait! They got washed off the ship?!" Chopper exclaimed.

"Uh, well, Luffy and Zoro did. Sanji jumped in after them, but didn't come back." Usopp clarified.

"But, I need to make sure Luffy's okay!" Chopper frantically explained, "He was right beside me when the gas hit!"

The other three Strawhats watched their doctor with sad expressions. Chopper was the doctor. It was only natural for him to be worried about a patient, more so a nakama.

"Doctor-san," Robin finally said, "May I recommend you try to rest a little more. That seastone gas may have after effects."

"You're probably right." Chopper sighed, "I do still feel unbelievably tired still."

It would be correct to say that the remaining nakama in the kitchen would have smiled at their doctor for his sudden calmness, but those smiles didn't come. Especially when the doctor once more passed out on the floor without warning.

"Chopper!" Nami squealed as she caught him. The doctor was once again limp in her arms, but he seemed to have stronger breaths than he did in his earlier coma-like sleep.

Usopp sighed a little as the navigator lifted the small doctor into her arms sadly, "I'll take him down to get some sleep in our room. You two should get some sleep too."

With that said the sniper knelt down next to Nami and held his arms out to take the load she was holding into his own arms. When she handed him over to the sniper they said their goodnights for the night and parted ways until morning.

Usopp set the small doctor down on Zoro's coach. Since the swordsman wasn't needing it at the moment he was sure that it was fine. Besides, the swordsman might've even allowed it had he been there. The idiot slept on the hardwood floors all day anyway.

When he was sure Chopper was alright, the sniper made his way up the stairs to begin his watch for the night. They didn't need another attack by anyone. Especially now of all times.

* * *

The sun had set most likely half an hour ago leaving the cook and captain alone in the darkness. Sanji had grabbed a piece of driftwood and lit it with his match a little after sun down so they had some sort of light source.

"Damnit!" Sanji hissed under his breath, "Shitty marimo probably got lost!" Why hadn't he thought of that earlier. Sure, the swordsman's swords did better with chopping wood, but the fact that he might never find his way back with the wood he got never even occurred to the cook. Why hadn't it? The swordsman would sometimes even get lost on their own ship for crying out loud.

All the commotion and plotting things that had to be done made him forget about one of their possible downfalls on this island.

Stupid marimo's sense of direction.

Sanji had to think of something to do. He supposed he could leave his captain here and go look for the marimo, but that would leave Luffy completely vulnerable to anything that came across him.

The cook put his head in his hands. Carrying Luffy with him would only slow him down in the dense forest and if he ran into any sort of enemy he wouldn't be able to fight them off properly if he's carrying Luffy on his back.

An idea came into his head. They were surrounded by trees right? What if he put the shitty captain in the tree? No predators would be able to get to him. Unless they climbed trees of course. There could also be seriously mean birds up there too, but that was really the only things that there were to worry about right? It was better off than just leaving him in the sand completely open to be dragged off.

The cook had decided. With a small heave he managed to lift his captain up into his arms. The cook the proceded in climbing a nearby tree to a sturdy branch and set his captain down on it being sure that he wouldn't fall out should he wake up or move in his sleep. He laid his jacket down on Luffy once more as well as the compress which he had quickly re-wetted before he did so.

With one final look at his captain the cook sped off into the forest. Even if he had left his captain out of reach of most predators it was still best to hurry. Anything could really happen. Hell, he could even wake up and decide to rampage all over the island, but that wasn't likely.

"Marimo!" Sanji shouted. He cared not if an animal or foe decided to attack him because of his loudness. Without his captain there to worry about he could kick the enemy's ass as he saw fit.

"Shitty Swordsman! Where are you!"

"What did you call me Ero-cook!?"

Up ahead the cook heard the shuffling of foliage. Someone was approaching him and he was damn sure it was who he had been looking for.

Zoro came into the torch light carrying two large bundles of firewood on each shoulder. He had the typical scowl on his face that he always had when he was around the blond. He squinted as he came closer due to the sudden change in light.

"You idiot! How could you get lost at a time like this!?" Sanji howled at him feeling the need to kick him in his stupid face.

"I wasn't lost! You probably went to a different area than what we agreed on!" The swordsman retorted.

"Why would I do that?!"

"How am I supposed to know? I wasn't lost!"

"Then why were you going the opposite direction of the campsite?!"

After a few seconds of glaring Zoro asked, "Oi, where's Luffy?"

Sanji sighed as he began walking the trail he stomped out back to the campsite, "I had to leave him to come find your stupid ass."

The cook suddenly got the sensation of someone glaring daggers into the back of his head, "You left Luffy alone?! Is he conscious yet?!"

Sanji felt the guilt in him. He knew it wasn't that smart of a decision to desert his captain for the amount of time he had been away, but it was one of the few choices he had and he felt it was the best one.

"No, he's not awake yet. Let's just hurry up and get back."

When they walked back onto the beach and made it to the campsite the first thing Sanji did was find the tree he had put Luffy in and get his captain back down. All the while Zoro watched him out of the corner of his eye as he used the cooks lighter to light the campfire.

Sanji found the branch his captain was on and hoisted himself up. Thanks to the light of the fire he could see everything that was around them. Which apparently didn't include Luffy.

"Shit!" Sanji cried as he plummeted out of the tree. Zoro jumped up ready to draw his swords be the problem an enemy.

"What is it cook?" He hostilely asked examining the surrounding underbrush. Nothing was there. No sound was made. He didn't sense that there was any danger whatsoever.

"Luffy . . . he's . . ." Sanji stuttered as he stood once more and checked all the tree's branches around them, "Gone!"

"What!?" Zoro bellowed re-sheathing his swords as he began to check the trees as well, "Where could he have gone to?!"

"I don't know, Marimo!"

"Curly-brow, what happened to him?!"

"I said I don't know!"

" _Gomu Gomu no_!" They suddenly heard not too far into the trees, " _Pistol_!"

But, nothing came. The two men had heard that plenty of times before and they were completely sure they were just about to be punched by a rubbery fist. This time however only came the sound of the leaves rustling in the gentle breeze which was completely opposite to what would have happened had the attack happened.

"Luffy?" Sanji asked taking a step forward.

"Who are you!?" The boy yelled with a voice that sounded so weak compared to his usual boisterous tone, "Where am I?!"

"Luffy, It's Zoro and Sanji." The first mate responded in a rare sensitive tone of which made Sanji glance at him in sudden surprise before reverting his attention back to his captain.

"Zoro? Sanji?" Their captain questioned before clumsy footsteps were heard coming toward them. When he stepped out of the underbrush and was illuminated by the campfire the two men got a look at how utterly terrible he looked. He had probably fallen out of the tree even through Sanji's efforts to not have him do so. That explained all of the dirt and leaves that were on him. HIs face was still flushed, but Sanji couldn't tell if he still had a red hue to his cheeks and forehead still.

But, the thing that bugged them both most was their captain's eyes. They were milky looking and completely unfocused. They didn't even seem to respond to the fire like they were supposed too.

"Come sit by the fire Luffy, we'll explain what happened." Sanji told him after looking him over from head to toe.

But, what he responded with caught both of the men off guard and sent their hearts into a black hole.

"What fire?"

* * *

 **Ah!**

 **It feels god to finally have that done!**

 **I loved writing ever minute of it, but I was beginning to get stressed out on trying to finish it!**

 **I hope to have the next chapter up much sooner**

 **PLease review!**

 **Until Next Time!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello everyone!**

 **So, as you can see, I have the next chapter done.**

 **GehesiahEmerald- Oh, I could understand what you said just fine :) all the ". . ." and stuff just made your comments sporadic and I loved them :D. And don't worry, I'm a weirdo too ;)**

 **Natsumi- Don't worry. I have no intention on making this a pairing fic. Purely a nakamaship fic.**

 **And to the person who was under**

 **Anyways, onto the chaptah!**

* * *

Zoro was at first relieved when he heard his captain's battle cry. Even though what usually followed was a fist slamming into his jaw almost knocking him out, or him being rocketed along with the idiot to who knows where, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted from the swordsman's shoulders.

Of course, that weight came crashing back onto him as soon as his captain spoke those two simple words.

He heard a small distance away an outward sigh coming from the cook. As he looked over toward him all he saw was his stupid mug looking up at the sky that was blanketed with stars. He could tell by the way his fingers continuously rubbed against the lighter he had pulled out of his pocket that the stupid love-cook was dying for a smoke, but his cigarettes were practically useless now. Seawater having drenched them to the point where they were only damp pieces of paper and a bunch of whatever else those damned things were made out of. His legs were sprawled out before him, but his posture still spoke volumes about his readiness to fight anything that dared to come at them.

Zoro clutched the three swords that had amazingly made it through the storm closer to his chest. He was just as prepared. He waited for any sound; any movement in the forest behind them just begging for him to come and cut whatever it was to pieces.

The swordsman gazed down at the sleeping boy that was mere inches from his knee. He seemed to look healthier than he did earlier when he saw him. Even though the only source of light was their small campfire, he could still tell that he was no longer as white as a sheet. That unbelievably pale tone had shook him to his core.

Maybe not as much so as what had happened only almost an hour or so ago.

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_

" _What fire?" was their captain's simple question. It seemed simple that is. It actually felt more like a huge puzzle that both the cook and swordsman didn't know how to place the first piece down to._

 _Zoro shot Sanji a horrified and confused look, but even though the cook wasn't looking directly at him he could tell he was thinking the exact same thing that he was._

' _What?'_

" _Wha-what kind of sick joke was that?!" Sanji suddenly blurted trying to put a smile on his face that he knew too well was fake. The cook let out an uncomfortable laugh as though he honestly believed the first thing Luffy wanted to do when he finally awoke was play a sick prank on them._

 _Zoro watched with concern as his captain put on the most pathetic excuse for a fake smile he had ever seen the boy give followed by his own version of a nervous laugh. Then, he watched as Luffy took his right foot and stepped forward warily. It was all too obvious something was wrong. The way Luffy seemed almost unsure of what he was doing. Since when did his captain ever doubt himself the least bit?_

 _Another step went by, but everything went downhill from there. The log that had been proving as a sort of barrier for the trio seemed to be the thing that would prove to the cook that this was the farthest thing from a 'sick joke' there was. Their captain's foot caught on the ragged edge of the log and he went tumbling forward straight for the fire._

 _If it wasn't for Zoro stepping right in front of his captain almost instinctively they'd be having to find a way to treat severe burns by then._

 _The swordsman caught Luffy from under his arms and waited for him to regain his footing, but he never even felt any struggle to do so. Not a single word that Luffy would usually at least mutter when Zoro or anyone else from his crew saved his butt._

 _No "Sorry, Zoro!" with a huge, head splitting grin to top it off._

 _This was because his captain had simply fallen back into unconsciousness._

 _In an instant Sanji was by Zoro taking part of the load for himself. Together they laid their limp captain back onto the cold sand in a way that wouldn't disturb him too much from his obviously needed sleep._

 _Once they were done the two Strawhats locked eyes, "I honestly don't think he was joking, curly-brow."_

 _And Sanji simply muttered back, his gaze downcast, "I agree . . . marimo."_

* * *

They had sat themselves around the fire a little after that. Sanji had hunted down his jacket that had fallen down along with Luffy and had it sprawled out next to his legs, soaking up the heat from the fire.

Zoro was nearly asleep himself, having been told by the cook that he would keep watch of which he didn't even try to argue with, when he heard curly-brow make a strange noise that he couldn't help open his eyes to see what it was. When he did he saw the stupid love cook rubbing his hands together to try to, what the swordsman assumed was, warm them. _Did he seriously just shiver?_ The swordsman thought.

It was a chilly night. This island had to be a fall or spring island. It was too cold for it to be a summer island and he was pretty sure that if it was a winter island they'd be having many other troubles than what they were having at the moment. The swordsman was absolutely grateful for that.

Zoro watched without a word as Sanji swapped glances between his captain and the black jacket laying by the fire. In a slow silent motion the cook grabbed hold of the jacket and slid it over the prone boy laying in the sand.

The swordsman couldn't help but grin at the attentive action being displayed openly by the cook to anyone other than a 'lady'. His 'shitty captain' no less.

The cook obviously saw that Zoro was awake because no sooner had he finished covering up his captain did his face construe in irritation and he hissed, "What are you staring at, shitty swordsman?"

Even his little attempt at telling the green haired man off for watching him was a lot quieter than his usual voice was.

In response the swordsman just gave a humored grunt before slipping off to sleep himself.

* * *

Usopp woke up just as the sun was rising above the horizon. Earlier that morning, Robin had taken the second watch so that the sniper could get some sleep before they began searching once more. He had gratefully accepted the swap and immediately passed out as soon as he made it to the men's quarters.

Though the sniper knew that it was morning, that was not the thing that had truthfully woken him from his slumber. Two hooves were shoving him repeatedly in the arm. He had tried to ignore it thinking it was Luffy trying to get him to play a game of tag or something, but then remembered that his idiot captain wasn't there at the moment.

He lunged up out of his hammock to see who the person was, but ended up smacking his head against said person instead.

"Usopp!" came a whiny childish voice. When the sniper looked he saw Chopper rubbing his head in the spot he assumed he had smacked his head on.

"Chopper! You're up!" Usopp happily exclaimed as he stepped onto the wooden floor to stand next to the doctor.

The doctor looked down at his feet,"Yeah . . . I didn't know I went back to sleep." Chopper said to what seemed not only the sniper, but himself as well.

Usopp just wordlessly watched the doctor continue to rub his head as he seemed to mull over several things in his head. After what the sniper assumed was a few minutes he finally decided to speak up.

"Oh, have you gone to talk to Nami or Robin yet? They've been worried sick about you."

The doctor looked back up at Usopp and had a small smile appear on his previously saddened visage, "No, not yet. I should go do that now!"

And with that the two went bounding toward the ladder and made their way happily to the deck. Above them was Robin still doing the second watch with a small blanket wrapped around her shoulders to keep her from getting cold.

As Usopp and Chopper appear on deck Robin is immediately aware they are there, "Doctor-san, nice to see you are feeling better." She called down with a smile.

Chopper smiled back with a wave, "Robin, do you know where Nami is?"

Seeing that everyone on the ship seemed to be awake now, Robin began her descent onto the deck, "Navigator-san in in the kitchen."

Usopp and Chopper headed toward the kitchen and as they opened the door to the galley they saw Nami with the fridge wide open looking inside of it. The navigator seemed to see them and slammed the door in irritation.

"I don't know how to cook half this stuff!" She yelled as she turned toward the two in the doorway her watched her with horror-struck faces, "I'm just gonna have a mikan."

It was then that Nami noticed the small doctor who was watching her from behind Usopp's leg. A smile blossomed across her face replacing the previously angry one. The navigator approached and knelt down next to the doctor, "Chopper, how're you feeling? You okay?"

Chopper hesitantly came out from behind Usopp's leg and went to sit at the destroyed table, which seemed to not faze the doctor, "I'm fine! But, we should probably get going to try and find Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro."

Behind Usopp, Robin approached, "Doctor-san is correct. We should continue our search for the others. We do not know for certain whether or not they are safe."

"They could need some medical treatment immediately!" Chopper yelled from where he sat at the destroyed table.

"Do you know which island we should check first, Nami?" Usopp asked.

Nami made her way outside and into the upper deck where she already had a few of her maps ready to help her navigate to the islands, "They could be on either one really."

"Or nether . . ." Robin mused ignoring the shocked looks that the other Strawhats gave her upon saying her comment.

"Let's check out that one over there first." Usopp said pointing to the one closer to where they were. It wasn't just because it was closer to them. It looked completely feral from the sniper's perspective. Barely any color was showing there meaning not much vegetation. Truthfully it looked to be just one giant rock floating in the ocean. Giant grey spikes that stuck out at odd angles in water and on land seemed to threaten them as they studied it.

"Usopp, can you and Chopper raise the anchor?" Nami asked knowing that Zoro and Luffy weren't here to do it like they usually were.

Usopp gave her a nod before running to go do the job Nami had assigned him.

"I'll go bring down the sails, Navigator-san." Robin said before calmly walking away to do her task at hand.

Nami sighed once she was left alone to examine the few maps she had with her. The island they had chosen to go to first definitely was the wiser option. If the guys were to have washed up on there then they would have difficulty doing really anything for their survival. No plants meant no foraging and no animals. Fishing would be difficult since the outer part of the island was a huge drop off. Not to mention the spikes . . .

Even if hunger and thirst beyond other things didn't get to them the fact that that island was one of the most plain islands she'd seen would. Luffy would be bored out of his mind and would most-likely annoy the other two to death.

Behind her, Nami heard the sails fly open and the sound of splashing water from the anchor being pulled in. Within no time she felt the ship move and saw as the island began to get closer and closer. They's probably dock within the hour and spend that day hunting the idiots down.

The navigator sighed as she clutched the maps in one hand and rested her chin on her other.

"Those idiots better be okay . . ."

* * *

It seemed that the cook ended up passing out even through his efforts to keep watch.

Sanji awoke to his neck in an awkward position. It had lolled back to have it rested on one of the larger boulders completely exposing his neck. His mouth was wide open too. He especially noticed that it had probably been like that for a while when he closed it to find that his mouth seemed to be the home of a . . . particularly small resident.

Zoro jumped awake at the sound of a horribly loud squeal. A squeal that would put pigs to shame. The swordsman instinctively grabbed his katanas and sat straight up. His eyes flew open to see the curly-brow hopping on his feet slapping his tongue over and over again.

The swordsman couldn't help it. Upon seeing the sight Zoro broke out in a hysterical, taunting laughter.

The cook spit a few times into the sand before looking over at the shitty swordsman who was howling in laughter. He scowled as he stomped over to where he was sitting.

"What the hell are you laughing at marimo?!" He bellowed right in the green haired man's ear.

Zoro looked up into Sanji's face with his sneer still in place, "What was that about ero- cook?"

Sanji scowled, "Shitty spider decided to rent my mouth out for the night." he said spitting into the fire.

That sent Zoro into another (slightly toned down) fit of laughter. The cook trying to ignore it to the best of his ability looked down at his captain that was only about a foot from them. It would seem that Luffy was feeling more like himself for his limbs were spread out around him. The jacket that Sanji had given him was wrapped around his right leg in a way that would make you wonder if the boy tied it in a knot around the limb.

Above all else, the cook couldn't help but smile at the snores that was coming from his captain. They were a bit quieter than normal, but it just showed him that things were going back to normal.

That brought the cook to another thought. Normal Luffy meant normal eating. And that meant.

 _Shit_

"Oi, marimo." The cook said trying to get the shitty swordsman's attention, "I think we should go hunting."

Zoro eyed the cook for a second before responding, "Meat?"

Sanji nodded, "Meat."

With a sigh the swordsman stood. He wobbled a little which caused him some concern. He felt slightly weaker than he usually did, though he didn't dare say that to the cook. Curly-brow would most-likely comment about how "It's not abnormal, shitty swordsman."

Zoro grew angry at the cook even though he didn't even say anything.

Sanji watched without a word as the swordsman stood unsteadily. He didn't mention it to him, but he was feeling the effects of no food or water for a whole two days probably as much as marimo was. He knew that in three days it was normal for people to die of thirst. It was true that if they didn't get food for their captain they wouldn't hear the end of it until they did finally kill something and cook it, but water was probably more important now than food.

"We should go look for water while we're at it. There has to be some sort of freshwater on this shitty island." He told the swordsman who was now sneering at the sleeping captain. He was probably thinking the same thing that Sanji was thinking.

The sneer slipped off of his face after a few seconds, "We should probably wake him up, huh?" Zoro was aware that last time they left him alone he ended up trying to attack them, which failed miserably to the swordsman's confusion. They could split up again, but Sanji would probably end up getting lost if he was to go hunting and then he'd get told that he was actually the one to get lost like always.

Luffy seemed to be feeling better based on his normal sleeping position. That had to be a good sign. Much better than the quiet still sleeping that had shaken the swordsman to the bone.

"Yeah, it's probably for the best." Sanji answered after he too thought over their options. There weren't really any. If they let their captain sleep they'd have to split up. Zoro would get lost and etcetera etcetera. The best thing to do now was stick together until help comes for them.

Help would come for them.

Zoro hesitantly knelt down next to his sleeping captain. He gripped both of his shoulders and shook him as gently as he could.

The only thing that happened was a slightly mumbled, "Meat."

Zoro growled then shook again this time slightly harder, "Damn it, Luffy! Wake up!"

With a start their captain's eyes snapped open and he shot into a sitting position. Sanji gave a humored snort at the surprised look on the swordsman's face. His humored look was wiped off of his face after he saw what his captain was doing.

The two Strawhats watched in concern as their captain waved a hand in front of his eyes in what looked like complete and utter confusion. His waving became more sporadic as he reached up with his other hand to make sure his eyes were open.

Zoro had seen enough and quickly grabbed the waved limb and his opposite shoulder, " Oi, Luffy. You're fine. Sanji and I are right here." he said in a solid tone. Different from the gentle one he had used the previous night. His captain needed to be reassured and the only way to do that was to show that they were not afraid. They needed to sound as though they knew what they were doing.

"Wh-why is it so dark?" Luffy asked turned his head toward where he heard his first mate's voice come from. His eyes were squinted in a futile attempt to try to see in the 'dark'. Zoro noticed the still milky and unfocused looking eyes that seemed to try and locate him.

The swordsman looked up at the cook that were watching the actions between captain and first mate. He quietly sighed and sat about a foot away from the two as to give them a bit of space. The last thing they needed was for Luffy to freak out and knock him out not knowing that he was sitting so close.

"Do you remember what happened on the ship?" Zoro asked looking back at his captain pretending that he could actually see him doing so.

Luffy's head turned away and tilted so he was facing the ground, " I remember marines attacking us, we sailed into a storm, some weird gas stuff was suffocating me and Chopper . . ."

The last sentence brought the young captain back to the present, "Where's Chopper?! Is he alright?! Wait . . . where are we?"

Luffy placed his hand down in the sand and scooped some up into his palm letting it drizzle back down to the ground.

Zoro watched his interaction with the sand before refocusing, "That gas stuff seemed to affect you a lot. You've been out for about two days and-"

"Two days?! That's ten meals!" he interrupted.

Sanji couldn't help but smile to this. True, this probably wasn't the best situation to be smiling to, but he was glad to see Luffy's appetite still acting normal.

Zoro sighed wiping his own smirk off before continuing, "We think that one of the side effects of the gas was . . ."

"Was what?" Luffy asked after the pause went on for too long. His two unfocused eyes met Zoro's face once again. This only caused the swordsman discomfort once again.

"Was . . . becoming blind."

Luffy suddenly seemed to freeze; the realization suddenly hitting him. They weren't some place that was pitch black such as a cave or something. Zoro and Sanji could see just fine. He was the one who was left out. He couldn't see his nakama's faces while they were able to watch him make, what he assumed was, a horrified expression.

The young captain suddenly felt very very small. Helpless.

"So . . . I-I'm . . ."

Luffy reached out for his first mate and clutched his white shirt. Zoro didn't flinch or try to move away from his touch. His swordsman was not even a few inches away . . . and he couldn't see his face.

"I . . . I'm . . ."

He took a deep breath of air suddenly realizing that they were right next to the ocean. The thing he dreamed about when he was small and now sailed on. He was no longer able to look at. The sound of waves was suddenly evident as well as the flickering of a fire not too far away.

He fliched as he felt a hand clasp his shoulder from behind. Guessing it was Sanji he relaxed under his touch. The only way he was certain that his nakama were near him was by them doing what they were doing now. Touching him.

"I'm blind."

* * *

 **The feelz maaan!**

 **I'm trying to bring on the feels at least.**

 **PLease review! It gives me inspiration to continue writing. In fact I was just going through the reviews when I decided to get off my lazy butt and go finish this chapter. And what do you know! Now it's 3:00 am.**

 ***sigh* I'm going to bed!**

 **Until next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

**GehesiahEmerald- True, Ace isn't dead yet in this story *cries with happiness*. Although, I wasn't really planning on him being in this. Solely a Strawhat fanfic. Sorry!**

 **mugiwarasinger- Well, thank you very much! I Don't worry, I love those types of fanfictions too :) I have read the fanfictions you said this reminded you of and did greatly enjoy them. They were actually recommended by another reviewer on here so I checked them out! Great stories!**

 **And for the two guests that commented-**

 **1) I wanted Usopp to be given a lot of responsability so I'm glad that you noticed that I was trying to do that :)**

 **2) Yeah, last chapter wasn't very active in terms of action and all of that stuff. This chapter doesn't have much action either, but I hope it made up for last chapter's lack of.**

 **Disclaimer (Do not own, and never will own One Piece . . . Probably not the only one crying about this fact . . .)**

 **Now, onto the chaptah!**

 **Please sit back, grab your comfort food, and enjoy this brand new chapter.**

* * *

"Sanji! I'm hungry!" Luffy complained from behind his first mate.

The whole trip into the woods had been a clumsy mess full of stumbling and collisions of the three men thanks to their current group handicap. Every uprooted tree root that seemed to come up involved Luffy's foot getting caught underneath it and ending up with him falling into Zoro who, in turn, fell into Sanji.

The two seeing eye men had tried their best to ignore it, and when they did end up in an uncomfortable dog pile, to just brush it off and continue on their journey to find food and water. Of course there was always a few irritated mumbles from swordsman to cook or vise versa, but neither of them truly mentioned their captain during these instances.

It didn't exactly help the trio that the two members that were able to see where they were going were feeling the effects of nearly two days without food or water (disgusting salty seawater not included). So, they too would stumble every now and again. Even so, Zoro would simply correct his footing and place his hand once again on his three precious katana while Sanji would quietly flick his lighter in what was a far cry compared to actually taking the smoke he so desperately longed for.

Sanji sighed with aggravation, "We all are, Luffy. We're trying to find something. Just be patient."

The raven haired man gave a whine once again. His hand was firmly latched onto Zoro's white shirt so he didn't get separated from them. He had thought about how it would be wiser to hold onto Sanji due to the fact that the cook actually had somewhat of a sense of direction, but decided to ignore the thought and just continue on.

The Strawhat captain found himself growing quit bored from the slow walk through, what he assumed was, the forest. He would usually enjoy it. Being able to look at all the new sights and explore the unknown island would thrill him and surely entertain him for a while, but little did he realise how much of a bore it became when there wasn't anyway he could truly _see_.

He had tried to pay attention to the noises that surrounded him. Wind blowing leaves, the sound of birds chirping back and forth, sometimes the sound of something scurrying away from them as they walked, but sooner or later he grew bored of this as well. He wished that his two nakama that were traveling alongside him would pick up on a conversation, but the two of them didn't very much enjoy small talk. The only words they usually spoke to each other involved situations that required cooperation or teasing that ended up leading to arguing.

The captain let out a soundless sigh. He slowly held his hand out to the side waiting for it to hit something. Finally he felt the texture of a tree. The bark glided across his fingers as leaves did the same thing. _I suppose this is the next best thing . . ._

Luffy continued this new type of "seeing" for a while before it happened again. His foot came across a root and he stumbled. His body slammed into Zoro's and his swordsman smashed into the blond in front of him.

"Damn it!" Sanji yelled from underneath Zoro, "Would you watch where you're going?!"

Zoro was about to argue back when his captain interrupted him, "No, it was me. Sorry."

Both Zoro and Sanji looked at their captain who was struggling to get up using a tree for the extra support and guidance. Something the two still on the ground knew they should be giving him.

Zoro snapped his gaze back to the cook who immediately locked his jaw. Not out of fear of the swordsman. No, never because of that. It was because he knew he had said something that would've been left unsaid. Even if it was directed towards Shitty Marimo.

Zoro stood up and allowed Luffy to latch back onto his shirt while Sanji got up as well.

The cook seemed as though he was preparing to march off once again in search of water, but suddenly turned back to his two companions. Even though Luffy couldn't see him at all, the cook stepped up to his captain, put a hand on his shoulder, and looked into his unfocused eyes that only stayed open out of habit.

"Naw Luffy," The cook started, "You're doing just fine."

* * *

It had been a while since the crew had docked at the island. They had split up into two groups. Robin was to look after the ship since she had a better chance of catching anyone who decided to try and board. That was if there were anyone of the island. She by herself wasn't exactly a "group, but with her Devil Fruit ability it might as well be.

Usopp, Nami, and Chopper were in the other group. They were going to search the island for any sign of Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji. They had gotten a shirt from all three of them and had Chopper to sniff them. Hopefully he could sniff them out and find them a lot quicker than just yelling their names until they possibly hear it. Of course, they were still going to do that . . .

The three of them were walking through a large ravine that separated two large mountain-like formations.

"This island gives me the chills." Nami muttered breaking the silence all of them had gotten used to over the time they had been searching every now and again being interrupted by one of them screaming the name of one of their three lost nakama. There was no sound whatsoever except for their own footsteps and the sound of the ocean in the distance. It was amazing how they could hear the ocean even though they were most-likely in the center of the island. That just further proved their point about how quiet and creepy the place was.

"I don't see how Luffy would survive here. He'd probably end up breaking the island with his loud voice." Usopp attempted at joking.

Nami smiled slightly as she silently agreed. It was true. This island is what a dead island would look like. No green. No life. Nothing. Just a big rock in the middle of the ocean with nothing on it. She didn't know if even Luffy would want to dock here if he was on the ship.

She knew that if Luffy _was_ on this island he would definately be easily traced by his easily recognisable voice that could burst eardrums if you were close enough.

That saddened her because she realised that if Luffy was indeed on this island, then he was in a condition that kept him from being himself. That was definitely worrisome. He had apparently been in the gas longer than Chopper. It could have affected him differently that the small reindeer that was currently walking beside her.

She looked down at her small nakama. He had been so concerned before they stepped onto the island. He was trying his best to hide it with his "doctor mode", but Nami could see right through it. She smiled as she watched the golden straw hat hanging from the small reindeer's neck.

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_

" _I need to definitely do a check up on Luffy when we find them even if he says he's fine." Chopper told them as he packed up a bag with his usual traveling medical supplies. Some antiseptic, a stethoscope, a roll of gaws, and a few other things._

" _He probably will try to get out of it doctor-san." Robin commented from where she sat on a lawn chair. She wasn't reading a book like she normally would have been. It was her own way of showing concern._

" _I'll just threaten him with meat if he does." Nami told her as she too was preparing herself for the journey into the island, "That always seems to do the trick."_

" _I'll also check on Zoro and Sanji." Chopper continued as he slung the bag onto his back, "We aren't sure what condition they are in either, but hopefully they are alright."_

 _The doctor looked down onto the deck of Merry seemingly going through a few of his own personal thoughts on the matter like he had been doing an awful lot since he woke up._

 _Just then Usopp burst through the galley with his satchel full of different ammunition slung over his shoulder, "Yosh! I'm all set!"_

" _Great, let's go!" Nami said as she walked over to the ladder to get off the ship. She was stopped when no one followed her. She turned back to see Chopper still staring at the deck with the other two watching him tenderly._

" _You okay Chopper?" Usopp asked taking a step toward the doctor._

" _What . . . what if I can't treat Luffy if he was affected more severely than I was?"_

 _Nami walked a few steps back toward the doctor, but didn't quite know how to answer that. She may have said 'Don't worry about it!' or, 'You'll figure it out!', but she didn't want to give a false hope for something even she didn't quite know._

 _Usopp however had another idea. He quickly rushed into the galley leaving the other three Strawhats alone and a bit at a loss of what to do._

 _He came back out holding something all of them were all too familiar with. Their captain's signature straw hat was held gingerly in the hands of the sniper as he approached the reindeer. He kneeled down beside him, then, just as Luffy had done with a few of them just the same, sat the familiar hat down on the doctor's head right on top of the doctor's own hat._

 _Chopper peeked up at him from behind the rim with curious and sad eyes._

" _There! You know, Luffy gave that to you to keep you from breathing in as much of that gas stuff. He trusted you with his treasure, so you should hang onto it until we find the idiot." Usopp explained._

 _Chopper stared at him in awe for a few seconds before a teary smile appeared on his face before gripping the rim and setting it comfortably on his back so that it was hanging off his neck from the string._

" _I'll keep it safe until we find him!" Chopper beamed with a wide smile and tears in his eyes._

 _Nami, Robin, and Usopp all smiled too right before the two groups separated and they made their way down to the island._

* * *

Nami smiled at the memory. She knew that they would find the idiot captain, Zoro, and Sanji. Be it this island or the on a little ways away from this one. And when they did she knew that Luffy would be asking for that old hat of his.

She also knew that Chopper would keep his captain's treasure safe. The doctor might've still worried about their three lst nakama, but at least now he had something to protect just as Luffy had protected him back on the ship.

It was a bit confusing, but it seemed that it was just what Chopper needed to continue their search with a hopeful heart.

Nami was snapped out of her reminiscing by Usopp's loud voice booming said captain's name followed by a loud rumbling from above them. The group of three stopped suddenly trying to figure out what the growing sound was.

The answer hit Nami . . . literally. A small rock hit her right on the head. She then understood what was happening.

"Run!" She screamed as she grabbed Chopper's small form and pulled him into her arms with only confused protests, "It's an landslide!"

* * *

Luffy had went back to his 'exploring' with his hand brushing against whatever they passed in the forest. It wasn't that exciting, but it was a bit interesting. Luffy hadn't typically paid much attention to anything but looks when exploring. Of course he had to listen to things to hear if someone or something was coming his way, but he didn't just do it out of the fun of it. It was more instinct than anything.

His mind was just focusing on what his hand was feeling and trying to avoid tripping on anymore roots so he wouldn't run into his nakama again.

Sanji and Zoro had gotten so used to the continuous whining coming from their up-and-about captain that when he had become almost ghostly quiet they couldn't help but look to see just to be sure he hadn't come down with yet another ailment or something. They didn't really know exactly what the gas could do to a Devil Fruit user except what they had already seen. For all they knew, their captain could randomly blow up. They saw it best to keep that thought to themselves . . .

They didn't know exactly what the feeling they felt was when they saw how their captain had taken to entertaining himself. They had, at first, felt glad that the raven haired boy had decided to take his cook's advice and try to be patient, but then he became so uncharacteristically quiet that they couldn't help but remember when he had been so still on that beach. An unpleasant memory was that of their captain.

Not only his quietness, but the way he now stared forward at nothingness as his unoccupied hand searched his surroundings in a way that he could at least try to "see" what they were seeing. It seemed that even blindness couldn't stop their rambunctious captain from doing what he loved.

Sanji still felt a bit ashamed about his outburst moments ago. He had no idea how long ago it was, but it sure had been a while. The comment had been aimed at Shitty Marimo, but had unintentionally hurt his captain even if Luffy wouldn't admit it.

Both he and Zoro had finally understood at that moment how exactly Luffy was feeling about the whole situation. Luffy was feeling like a nuisance to them. His handicap had made the journey to find resources a little harder than it usually would have been. Okay, a lot a bit harder, but that was something all of them had to deal with. Not only as their captain's crewmates, but as his nakama it was their jobs to help him when he needed it. Now was exactly that.

A moment when Luffy needed them.

The two turned their gaze back forward again so they could see where they were going. They weren't sure how long they had been walking, but they were starting to tire once again. Sanji thought of telling his companions that they should stop for a break when a gleaming caught his visible eye. He rushed ahead of the shitty swordsman and his captain and burst through the foliage that blocked his view.

He gave a triumphant yell and pumped his fists into the air before calling to his companions.

"We finally have some water!"

With that Zoro sped his pace up and came to stand by the cook with his captain still latched onto him. The two of them stared at it for a while. They had thought they heard the sound of water a little ways back, but having not come across any they assumed it was either that the ocean was still close by or that they were already beginning to hallucinate from lack of the desired liquid.

It seemed that neither assumptions had been the case however. The sound of the waterfall they now were watching had just echoed all the way to where they were.

"Wh-what is it?"

Their captain's confused voice snapped them out of their thoughts. They weren't moving or talking so Luffy had little idea what was happening. He could clearly hear the water splashing in front of them, but his nakama weren't wandering over to it. He had wondered if perhaps some sort of animal or other type of enemy was there.

"Oh, just lost in thought." Sanji finally told him, "Let's go."

Zoro, having grown tired of his shirt being a leash, reached behind him for his captain's forearm. He gripped it in his own hand and pulled his captain so he was standing next to him.

"I think my shirt has been abused enough." The swordsman tried to joke, but at the same time was completely serious.

"Yosh! I'm dying for some water! Where is it?"

Zoro outwardly sighed as he began leading his captain over to the lake and waterfall. The shitty cook had already gulped down plenty in the time it took the two of them to stumble over there and was already at work with gathering wood for the fire they would have to make later. Even though being on the beach would've been a good idea, it was also a wise decision to stay near the only known freshwater on the island.

The captain and first mate finally made it to the water bank. Luffy being around water without really knowing where it was was just a problem waiting to happen.

The swordsman let his captain's arm go and kneeled down so he himself could get rid of the dry feeling his throat had taken on. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Luffy slowly made his way down to his knees with his hands flailing downward. Finally his hand splashed into the water. He immediately put both hands into the lake and cupped them together before bringing them up to his mouth for him to drink out of.

The two of them did this a few times before they felt as if they had had enough and made their way over to the site of their new camp.

"There's a campfire right?" Luffy asked as he sat down where he assumed was in between his two nakama.

Sanji sighed, "Yes, Luffy. There will be a campfire."

The captain smiled his signature face splitting grin "Good! We can't camp out if we don't have a campfire."

"Oi, ero-cook." Zoro called as he too sat down for however long he would be granted rest, "We gonna go hunting?"

As if on cue a loud rumbling came from the raven haired boy who still sat smiling like an idiot. His expression turned into that of a pout as soon as the sound went off.

"Saaannnjiiiii! Fooooood!" He whined as he looked up to where he had heard the voice of his cook. He stuck his bottom lip out in an exaggerated way to show just how much he wanted it.

"Alright, alright! . . ." The cook consoled before looking down on the ground seemingly in thought, "The question is how are we gonna do this."

"What do you mean?" Zoro asked from a good sized boulder he had found to lean on. His arms were folded behind his head and his swords lay leaning against his legs. In other words, he was in a position he would typically doze off into a nap in.

Sanji growled seeing how relaxed the swordsman was making himself while they had things to take care of, "You know what I mean! I understand you have seaweed for a brain, but this is just ridiculous!"

Zoro shot up and stomped towards the cook unknowingly leaving his swords next to the large boulder, "Why you! Don't go thinking you're on the spot just because you have a target for an eyebrow!"

"What'd you say shitty swordsman?!"

"You heard me ero-cook!"

"Um, guys!" Luffy suddenly called having moved away from the two about half way through the first insult, "What is this?!"

Zoro and Sanji, who had been forehead to forehead throwing off threats and insults one after another, turned to look at where their captain stood. It took a while to find the red that was hidden amongst all of the green and brown, but once they did they could physically feel their hearts skip a beat.

Luffy seemed to have wandered away from them to go explore their surroundings using his hands since he wasn't really able to do so any other way. He had decided it was better than listening to his two nakama bicker at each other like they always did seemingly as part of their routine. He had felt plants, rocks, grass, trees, flowers of different colors (which he didn't really know), and then he felt something fuzzy. It wasn't fuzzy as in some strange plant that had a fuzzy texture or the texture of specific fruit, but rather the fuzzy of an animal.

That was precisely why the cook and swordsman prepared to fend off the large bear-like beast that their captain had unbeknownst stumbled upon.

Zoro reached down for his katana, but became completely confused and slightly panicked when he discovered they were no longer there. The only time he typically removed them from his waistband was when he . . .

 _Damn it_ Zoro cursed himself as he spotted his three precious katana laying almost pathetically next to the large boulder he was about to nap near only seconds ago.

Sanji seemed to notice this too, but made no comment completely understanding that Zoro must have noticed it far before he did. He also completely understood why the shitty marimo hadn't made a move to retrieve his missing blades. The way the bear thing next to Luffy was eyeing their captain said that if they dared to move whatsoever it would lash out. In a normal situation like this the cook and swordsman would pay no heed. They wouldn't worry about their captain. After all, their captain had reflexed like they had never seen before.

Of course this was not a normal situation. Their captain didn't see what was currently looking at him as though he was a wounded animal. He probably didn't even really know how much danger he was in. That was even scarier.

"Luffy . . . Don't. Move." Sanji said in a strict voice. Luffy's eyes immediately grew wide as he came to a realisation what was happening. His hand was still firmly placed on whatever fuzzy thing he had discovered and even though he now wanted to remove that hand Sanji had told him not to move and that was more than a reason to go against what he wanted to do.

As far as Luffy knew, Zoro and Sanji weren't even there anymore. He didn't hear any footsteps or anything. He had , however, started to hear a low rumbling coming from whatever fuzzy thing he was touching.

"Oi," Luffy called in almost a whisper, "Zoro?Sanji?"

Fear gnawed at Luffy for a split second when he heard no response from his nakama. He couldn't believe that they would just leave him there alone with whatever this . . . thing was. They weren't like that, but they would've carved up whatever it was typically by now.

Luffy cursed himself and his eyes. If they were working like they were supposed to then this wouldn't even be a problem. They would've probably been safe and sound waiting for the ship. Hell, they might not even been stranded on an island if it weren't for his weakness back on the ship with that gas stuff.

The young captain couldn't help but flinch when he felt the animal next to him suddenly move. He had no idea what was happening and his reflexes seemed to be on overdrive trying to protect him from his current threat.

His flinching caused a chain reaction, however. First the animal gave a loud growl and shifted even more very quickly. He heard both his nakama cursing over wherever they were proving to Luffy that he had in fact not been abandoned.

The young captain was suddenly thrown a few feet by something hitting him. It didn't hurt him, just completely confused and scared him. He was going to stay down for he was currently unaware as to what was happening, but then he heard it.

"Luffy, run!" from Sanji it sounded like.

"Damn it! Get away from him!", came Zoro, "Run damn it!"

He would have typically scoffed in their faces and grinned at his new enemy with determination to kick the ass of whoever or whatever it was. But, right now all Luffy felt was one thing. Fear. A fear for the fact that he was seemingly completely helpless. A word he typically wouldn't use to describe himself.

But, when he heard a giant roar from above him he did the one thing that fear always had people do. He took his nakama's advise.

And he ran.

* * *

 **Cliffhangeeeerr!**

 **Or an attempt at it.**

 **Please Review and I just want to say thank you all for all of your support. I know that this chapter came out a bit later than the others. This story has now gotten more reviews/favorites/ follows than any of my other stories and that makes me kind of ecstatic! You guys are great!**

 **Now I hope to see you much sooner than it took to put this chapter out.**

 **Until next time!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello once again!**

 **Sorry it took a little longer than other updates. I've been quite busy with a few current errands. You see, I'm going to the comicon in Chicago next weekend and have been preparing my cosplay. I"m going as Mikasa Ackerman from Attack on Titan. Also, my older brother is going into the National Guard and we've been planning on throwing a going away party for him before he heads off to boot camp.**

 **Anyways, here's some review responses.**

 **poyochin-** **Sorry! NO spoilers! And thank you!**

 **PyschoRien-** **I know, cliifhangers. SOmetimes you love them. Other times they want you to bash your computer screen :)**

 **LoverOf AnimeAnd Yoi-** **I'm sorry! And also, sorry about the longer wait. *gets on hand and knees & PLEASE FORGIVE ME! By the way, love the name ;)**

 **nachtwolke-** **Well, hi! And thank you so much. I try. And hope the update came soon enough. Laziness is funny like that isn't it . . .**

 **(I do not in fact own one piece . . . I think D:)**

 **PLease enjoy the story!**

* * *

Luffy didn't know how long he had been running. He remembered the loud cries of Zoro and Sanji telling him to get away from whatever that animal was. The scary thing was, he didn't know if he was actually running _away_ or not. For all he knew he could be running right into the jaws of that animal. The young captain mentally prepared himself to suddenly feel what it was like to be swallowed whole . . . or in pieces of course.

Every now and again the blind captain would run into a tree, trip, or even fall down a steep hill. Every time that happened he feared that he was being turned around and was heading right back to the campsite. Although that would mean he was heading back toward his nakama it also meant he was closing the gap of distance that he had made for himself from the animals.

It wasn't too long ago that he had heard a few growls coming from all directions. At least, it seemed like all directions. He hoped it wasn't. That could mean that there was more than one of the giant furry beast and having more than one following him wasn't a comforting thought.

The young captain knew that he had to get away from the animal(s) soon or else he would tire and be unable to run any more. Even if he forced himself to run after the adrenalin and energy he had was gone, eventually he would cease to be able to continue and then he'd be in all sorts of trouble.

His sporadic thoughts were interrupted by running right into another tree. He bounced off of it and sprawled out with the landing. His remaining sandle had flown from his foot with the impact with the ground leaving the raven completely barefooted. He had lost his other after sliding down a particularly steep hill a ways back. He remembered feeling like his legs had been cut from some sort of plants he had flattened when he had fallen.

It took Luffy only a second to figure out how to get away from the animals. He jumped up to his feet, trying to ignore the sound of heavy footsteps behind him, and swung his arm back. With a swift movement he shot his arm up to try to grab a branch of some sort. Only, his arm didn't shoot up, and he didn't grab a branch.

 _What the hell?!_ Luffy questioned as he continued to frantically try and use his Devil Fruit ability, but to no avail. Each time resulted in the situation feeling even more hopeless and the footsteps behind him getting even louder.

Finally, with Luffy giving up on relying on his abilities, he jumped as high as he could and clung to the rough, jagged bark of the tree. He quickly, yet steadily climbed as high as he could eventually having his hand land on a good sized branch. He made a reach and felt his heart stop when he felt the tree below him shake violently from what he assumed was the animal running into it like he had. Only the animal had probably done it on purpose for the shakes continued to come and the captain found himself clinging on for dear life as he scrambled to grab onto the branch.

Once his hand wrapped around the large branch he grabbed on with the other and hung from it like . . . well, a monkey. Eventually he also managed to wrap his leg around it as well and straddle it, hugging the base of the tree to keep his balance.

Roars and growls were erupting from below him and at that moment the young captain knew for certain that there had to be at least three of the animal, maybe even more. The shaking of the tree didn't cease, in fact they got worse as time went on. The animals had clearly decided that Luffy was going to be eaten by them whether he or his companions liked it or not.

Luffy thought of perhaps calling for his nakama like he would usually do carelessly, but he thought that maybe if he stayed quiet for a good chunk of time that the animals may lose interest and trudge away.

Boy, was he wrong.

* * *

The dust clouded the snipers vision as he coughed from inhaling a good portion of it. He could hear Chopper and Nami not too far away doing the same. He had pulled his goggles down hoping to assist with the blinding dust, and it had successfully worked. It was still difficult to see, but at least now the dust wasn't making his eyes sting.

Nami had said that it was a landslide. And since they were in a type of crevasse that was anything but good. The dust cleared somewhat and the sniper found himself scrambling around to find Nami and Chopper who would still cough every now and again. Eventually he caught sight of Nami on her knees with her hand in a fist covering her mouth.

As he approached her she squinted up at him, "You okay?" She asked in between coughs.

"Yeah, although I don't know where Chopper is." Usopp replied, "Chopper!"

It took a few seconds for a childish voice to reply, "Guys?! Where are you?!"

Usopp could finally see for the dust had cleared. As he looked around he tried to find the small doctor. He looked to his sides, front and back, but found himself with a newly discovered problem.

"Oi, Nami." He called her attention as she stood beside him, "I think we're stuck."

As the navigator also took in her surrounding she found this statement to be true. All around them was mountains of rocks. Big and small blocking every exit. They looked up to see the sun beginning its descent from midday to evening. In about three hours or so it would be dark. If they weren't out of there by then, that would cause several problems.

"Chopper!" Nami called realizing that Chopper wasn't with the two of them, "Where are you?!"

"I have no idea!" Came the doctor's voice once again. He was sounding a bit frantic. Nami however could hear where his voice came from, and it was right behind the giant wall of rock. At least he was outside of the rock prison that Usopp and her were in.

"Chopper, do you see the end of the gorge?!" The navigator asked.

A few seconds went by which Nami assumed was Chopper trying to see the end of it, but after that time she heard the doctor speak up again, "Yeah, what should I do?!"

Chopper realized that his nakama were seemingly stuck on the other side of a large pile up of rocks. He wasn't sure if they were in between two piles or if they could escape through the side they came from. HE also feared that one of them may have been hurt by a rock. One could have hit them in the head giving them a concussion. Or, maybe even squish them all together. The doctor imagined these images. Seeing Usopp's hand struggling to get out from underneath a gigantic boulder with Nami out could with a large lump on her head next to him sent Chopper into a frantic frenzy of trying to climb the pile of rocks.

"Are you guys alright?!" The doctor cried as he turned into his human form and made it to the top of a particularly large boulder. He scrambled to try to get ontop of another one, but was interrupted by Usopp's voice.

"AH!" The sniper cried suddenly, "Chopper! Don't try to come over here. Go get Robin okay?!"

Small rocks had begun falling towards the navigator and sniper due to Chopper's attempt at trying to come to their aide. They were immediately hugging eachother pathetically cowering over the thought of being squished by a giant boulder much like how Chopper had imagined.

Chopper immediately jumped down from the rock he was on and landed lightly on the ground once again in his normal body. He was supposed to go get Robin. She would be able to help get them out without squishing them on the other side.

"I'll be back soon! Stay here!" Without another word Chopper went into walk point and dashed back toward the ship.

The only sound he heard was Nami and Usopp yelling in unison, "We can't exaclty go anywhere!"

* * *

Sanji and Zoro were panting as they ran through the forest. The sun had set and they still couldn't find their captain.

"How could he run this fast when he can't even see?!" Sanji exclaimed to the swordsman next to him.

Zoro had no idea truthfully. He expected to find Luffy mere seconds after they took off after the bear. He just had to grab his swords from the stupid boulder, but when he turned around and saw curly-brow making his way over to the forest seemingly still waiting for him he realized just how frantically his captain had escaped. He didn't particularly blame the kid. After all, it would scare the shit out of him if he had people yelling at him to run while some feral animal was trying to eat him while he couldn't see where he was going or what was exactly attacking him.

In truth, he might have run too.

They had to also remember that Luffy was quite a fast runner. He could just speed right through the forest for several minutes without tiring too much. And being rubber, running into trees might not affect him very much.

Zoro suddenly recalled something that had happened the previous night, "Oi, cook." he called, "remember last night?"

Sanji looked at him sceptically, "How could I not? . . . What of it?"

"Luffy had went to attack us. You heard his battle cry didn't you? Yet, nothing went flying at us." Zoro explained.

"He was also dazed with fever, blind, and apparently tired." Sanji countered coldly. He didn't particularly want to remember his captain like that, but he didn't have much of a choice right now.

"What if that wasn't the issue? He's been able to use his abilities before while he was severely injured and tired-"

"What are you implying marimo?" Sanji interrupted after he nearly ran into a tree due to focusing on the swordsman.

Zoro scowled at the name Sanji had given him, "I'm implying that, what if that gas had another after effect and that's why he couldn't attack us last night?"

Sanji's eyes widened at the theory. Luffy's Devil Fruit was his only defense now. When the bear smacked him back at the campsite it seemed like they were working fine.

"That bear wiped him out and he seemed fine earlier." Sanji reminded Zoro.

"True," Zoro agreed, "But, that could have very well been his own toughness that allowed him to withstand the hit. Luffy's no pushover after all."

Sanji and Zoro were pulled out of their discussion by the sight of something yellow emanating from the green forestry. It was down a very steep drop and the plants that went down it seemed to be flattened somewhat. Zoro immediately slid down the hill to investigate the object. Once he did he immediately recognized it.

"Ero-cook!" He called up to him, "It's Luffy's sandal!"

The swordsman picked it up and motioned for Sanji to come down the hill as well. After having the cook stumble down the steep hill he showed him it.

"Geez, he must have been booking it." Sanji proclaimed as he made sure it was his captain's.

A cracking sound in the distance took them away from their sudden discovery. Without another thought they sped towards the sound dropping the sandal behind. A scream ripped through the air and at that moment they knew they had found their captain.

Their stomachs tightened when they heard the scream. Relief and horror were mixing together creating an odd mix of emotion. As they approached where they had heard their captain they realized he wasn't alone. Several growls and roars could be heard as well as giant foot steps.

No sounds stood out more to the two rivals quite like the sound of their names.

"Zoro! Sanji!" They heard right as they caught sight of their captain and the bear creatures surrounding him.

* * *

Robin sat in her lawn chair switching her glance from the ocean, the island they were currently on, and the island in the distance. Surely, if swordsman-san, cook-san, and captain-san had made it to an island then they were on either one of these.

She did not have a book with her like she would usually have. Her mind was to other things. There was no way she would be able to focus on a book at a time such as this. So, instead she decided to study the waves and the structure of the islands.

Robin was expecting the other three to make their way to the ship any minute. They said they'd be back by sundown and that was exactly what it was now. In fact, it had been sundown for a while and they were taking a little longer than she expected them to take. The brunette supposed that perhaps they found captain-san, cook-san, and swordsman-san and had to take care of them from where they found them.

In the back of her mind though she had a nagging feeling that something might have happened to them. The again, that could've just been her letting her imagination go wild.

She was proven wrong when she suddenly heard her name being frantically called by a child like voice. She stood from her lawn chair and approached the railing facing the island. No sooner the she did she saw a reindeer galloping toward the ship.

"Doctor-san, what is it?" She asked with her normal neutral tone, "Where are the others?"

Chopper skidded to a stop and panted for a few seconds before responding, "They got stuck . . . in a crevasse . . . said to come get you . . . need your help . . ." he said in between pants.

Robin, without hesitation, jumped off the side of the railing and landed with a soft thud, "Can you take me to them?" She asked.

Chopper immediately nodded and tracked his way back to Nami and Usopp with Robin right behind him leaving the ship alone at the shore.

* * *

The sight that Zoro and Sanji had found nearly terrified them. Luffy had apparently climbed a tree to escape the animals, which both swordsman and cook found to be a wise decision on his part. Except now he was trapped underneath the large tree. His left arm, shoulder, and leg were being crushed by said tree and he was trying to claw his way free despite knowing that about five animals were roaming around him.

 _Trapped prey_ thought Zoro and he swung his swords from their scabbards and prepared to charge at the beasts. Now there was nothing holding him back. He just had to make his way to his captain and then he could slice up these bastards for trying to eat Luffy.

Without waiting to see what Sanji would do, Zoro charged for the bear creature closest to his captain. He swung and when his blade made contact the beast was sent flying back slamming into two other animals.

Zoro saw the cook attacking the beast as well and took the opportunity to make sure that Luffy was okay. He knelt down beside his captain. When he saw the look on Luffy's face it nearly stopped him in his tracks.

The raven's eyes were wide with unseeing pupils frantically moving back and forth in a blind haze. His right hand was digging into the dirt tearing out clumps of it as well as the grass that used to be there. His right leg was pushing against the tree that was keeping him hostage.

"Oi, Luffy" the swordsman called grasping the teen's right shoulder, "You okay?"

At the sound of his first mate's voice Luffy stopped struggling and turned his gaze to where he had heard the familiar voice, "Zoro?" he asked.

Luffy had given up on being quiet as soon as he felt the tree falling with him still clinging on with no idea of what to do. Even though he had screamed for his nakama he didn't particularly expect them to make it to his location as fast as they did.

"Yeah." Was the swordsman's simple answer.

Luffy gave a quick sheepish smile before returning to try to push the tree off of his other side, "I can't get this stupid tree off. And for some reason it kind of hurts."

Zoro swallowing in worry at that. It was seeming like his earlier theory was becoming much more likely. This tree was far too big to not kill anyone that it fell on. So, it seemed like Luffy still had his ability somewhat. But, the fact that it had apparently hurt the boy he wondered if he was fully rubber still. If he was then the tree falling on him would probably do nothing more than tickle him.

"Okay, listen." The swordsman said to the struggling boy, "Sanji and I are gonna take care of these bastards and then we're going to get this shitty tree off of you, okay?"

Luffy gave a sturdy nod before Zoro turned back to the animals that the cook was seemingly struggling with. Three of the bears were simultaneously attacking the ero-cook while two of them were encircling himself.

The thing that shocked the swordsman is that the bear that he had distinctly remembered slicing didn't even have a gash on him from where his blade hit him. Perhaps a small cut but not something that he could see past the heavy fur. He hoped that it was just a trick his eyes were playing on him due to the sun being down making everything black.

Without another thought, the swordsman struck the bear once more as both beasts came charging toward him and his captain. After he struck one and turned quickly and sliced the other with all three of his katanas. Both beasts slid back, but immediately stood once more and moved toward the swordsman again seemingly unphased.

Behind the two animals he could see the cook get thrown by one of them a few feet away. Zoro watched nervously as Sanji stood shakily. Not only were these beasts seemingly invincible, but Sanji, Luffy, and himself hadn't had anything to eat in about two days. They thankfully had gotten water, but food was how they got energy and without some it was going to make this particular task even more difficult.

The swordsman took his stance in front of his fallen captain, positioned his blades, and charged his new enemies.

* * *

 **Well, there you have it. I believe this is also a cliffhanger.**

 ***hides in fear of angry readers* I'm sorry!**

 **but, like I said I've been busy. This weekend is the party for my brother, I start school next week, and then the next weeked is when I'll be leaving for comicon. I will obviously write after I come home form school every day next week (At least I hope everyday).**

 **Please review. I love reading the opinions, requests, and questions of my dear readers. YOu all are after all the reason I write.**

 **Until next time!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello once again readers!**

 **I am going to apologize to everyone who have been waiting so very patiently for this update. I hope you all understand that since I am still in school and my school has just restarted about 3 weeks ago that I am sort of being bombarded by work. Seriously, my school needs to lay off a bit.**

 ***cries softly in corner* "Why can't it be summer vacation again!"**

 **Now, replies to reviews and stuff:**

 **StrawHatCaptainLuffy** **\- AAAGHH! Please don't die! Here, I have a brand new chapter all sparkly and new. Please just enjoy it and . . . like . . . don't die . . . :D**

 **SilenceOfRain7** **\- Holy Crap! You must be a mind reader! I was actually planning on that so . . . yeah. And I don't believe he had ever experienced such a thing. Just imagine, having a rubbery broken arm . . . *tries to erase thoughts***

 **To . . .** **Guest** **dude- Well, thank you! And yes, NO Franky, Brook, Ace, Sabo, etc etc etc etc. Just the StrawHats up to Robin in the story line. And your eager awaiting is finito . . . at least for now O_O**

 **-** **It is my story isn't it? Hmmmm . . . Anyways, I'm gonna work out the whole "overcome" thing. It isn't Luffy if he doesn't come out of a tough situation with a little more of something. And, eventually, yes, he will get better over time . . . or will he!?**

 **And to the PM message I got from** **shishiswordsman-** **I didn't realise that my writing was all that good compared to 14 year olds, but thank you so very much for your input and comments on it. And, here is the chaptah you were asking for, I do hope you enjoy it!**

 **Now . . .Onto the chaptah!  
Disclaimer- Do ya'll honestly believe I own this masterpiece *blushes* yyooouuuu . . . **

* * *

The struggling had become much more desperate. Nothing was helping as a motivation around him, which, ironically, was a motivation in itself. Mere seconds before, Luffy had been nearly overwhelmed by the sound of smashes and roars from both his nakama and the strange beasts. He could make out the familiar _ting_ of Zoro's blades as he continuously slashed out and then the light _plop_ when the swordsman landed after an attack from the air. Farther away he could also make out the repeated blunt sounds from, what he assumed was, Sanji's kicks against an apparently rough hide.

All was still now though. The captain was left in a dark world, trapped to the point where he couldn't run to where he hoped his nakama were. Even with Luffy's pleas to his nakama for them to answer him, no voice was heard, no sound was made.

The captain felt absolutely, positively-

-Helpless.

It was a nearly foreign feeling that Luffy had began to feel quite often in the past couple days. Being unable to tell if enemies were nearing him unless luck was with him and he was able to hear something. He wasn't capable of simply walking on a straight path directly behind his nakama without gripping onto some sort of lifeline.

And now this.

Luffy wasn't sure if he could even begin to describe the levels of fear he was feeling at the current moment. Every pull he made, every shout, every attempt at seeing _something_ just further discouraged him to have any hope at all.

The captain dug his tan fingers into the semi soft mud beneath him, suddenly feeling a slight give way from the tree he was trapped under. His free foot was caked with dried mud. The captain wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing that the dirt wasn't too soft from moisture, but as if the universe needed to pry itself even farther into the twisted and almost pitiful situation, a drizzle began to rain down upon the trapped captain. Eventually turning into a downpour.

Luffy's leg and arm were now slick with the mud that had, at one point, been nearly as hard as stone. Even so, the captain continued to claw at the ground with a great roar each time as though it would give him extra strength or perhaps awaken some power for him to lift the tree up with ease. Or, maybe give him his eyes back so that he could at least see how his nakama were.

Zoro and Sanji were his motivation. They could be wounded, severely. For all he knew, they could've been dragged away by the beasts. And it'd be all his fault for being unable to help. For being a continuous nuisance.

"Sanji!" Luffy called with strain in his voice, "Zoro!"

With one more mighty pull, the trapped boy pulled himself free. His arm sinking into the liquefying mud right before the tree could do so. Leg doing the same. His arm slid back to his side with a horrible ache that Luffy couldn't help cringe and cry out at. He did not know this pain, but it was making sure that he didn't do anything with his previously trapped appendage that he didn't need to.

Immediately remembering the more important task at hand, Luffy jumped to his feet unsteadily and strode away from the fallen tree. He gripped his wounded arm with his scraped up one. Clawing at the ground normally wouldn't have done anything to the captain. His rubber abilities would have assisted in protecting his fingers from his desperate and abusive actions, but it was pretty clear by now to Luffy that something was happening to him other than simply losing his eyesight.

With his already unsteady footwork, Luffy slipped in the slick mud falling face down on the slightly cushioned ground. It sent a stabbing pain up his arm and through his body like a shockwave. He would have paid more attention to whatever the hell was wrong with his arm was it not for the feeling of something at his side. The captain felt for it and laid his hand down when he was sure he had found it. He felt the familiar wet clothe that he always clung to whenever he was dragged out of the ocean by his first mate. He felt the swordsman's signature three katana that he was rarely seen without.

And he felt something else. It was a liquid. The feeling it had on his wet fingers was definitely proof it wasn't water, but it also wasn't mud. Something in between in density.

With a sudden realization, the captain gripped his first mate's shirt with both his hands, injured arm and not and called frantically for Zoro to get up. For that liquid he felt should've been all too familiar, but somehow it terrified him more than it ever had before. It was blood, and by the amount that covered the swordsman's body, he could tell that there was a lot.

* * *

Robin had actually felt a pang of concern when she went chasing after the young doctor, but once she arrived at the scene she couldn't help but smile in mild humor. Both navigator and sharpshooter were arguing over who should possibly attempt at climbing to the top. It sounded more one sided in which Nami was "ordering" Usopp to climb up one of the more stable looking walls while she ducked for cover on the opposite side of the prison that had become of them.

Chopper watched Robin with clear confusion and anger, yet he seemed to find at least _some_ humor in his other nakama's actions and couldn't truly bring himself to be mad at Robin. So, he just waited for Robin to make herself known to the other two. Turning into his brain point he sat next to Robin, who had made a pair of hands to secure both of them, and watched to see what would happen.

A solid five minutes and finally Robin seemed to have enough in what she found highly humorful, "Navigator-san. Long nose-san." The middle aged woman called down in her usual calm tone, "What might you be doing down there?"

Right as they heard the call of their names Usopp and Nami swung their heads in the direction of the familiar voice and gave both relieved smiles. Nami kept hers while Usopp seemed to understand by the way that Robin and Chopper were sitting comfortably on the edge that they had been watching them.

"Robin-san, thank God you're here! I thought I was going to die with this imbecile!" Nami shouted up to the older woman as she approached the wall of stones seemingly preparing herself to be lifted up.

"Were you just watching us from up there! That's so creepy, like do you know how scared I was . . . for Nami! I was trying to calm her down while I waited for you to come for us! I obviously knew you would come, I mean, I trust you fully. There's no way that you guys would abandon The Great Captain Usopp!"

While Usopp rambled on, Robin assisted Nami up over the wall and settled her next to Chopper as she lowered them both back to the ground. Nami landed with a small _thud_ and got on her hands and knees and began doing what looked to be hugging the ground . . . in a way.

She rocked back onto her heels and turned to Chopper with her relieved smile still on her face. She was about to say "good job" to the young doctor when she realised exactly what the posture and expression Chopper was beholding meant.

His eyes were downcast with a sollum frown on that seemed less sorrowful, but more disappointed or concerned. He stood with a stiff posture. But, the thing that caught Nami's eyes was the familiar golden straw hat that usually belonged around her captains neck or on his head clutched tightly in the reindeer's arms. Almost protective-like. Almost as though he was hoping for something.

And the navigator could guess what that "something" was.

As Robin dragged the shouting and protesting Usopp up the wall by his feet with her Devil Fruit ability, Nami turned fully to the youngest strawhat member, clasped his small arm in her grasp, and smiled.

"Good-job Chopper. I'm sure Luffy'd be happy with how well you did."

As though what she said solved every problem that he had ever had, the doctor's face split in two with a joyous smile that seemed to lighten up the mood of everyone in the vicinity. Even Usopp who was seemingly scolding Robin after she had dropped him down the wall with no hesitation gave a small smile when he looked over at Chopper and Nami.

Robin, still with her usual calm expression, finally addressed the others on what their next move should be, "I would have to guess by that fact that captain-san and the others haven't shown their faces yet that they are not on this island. We should try checking the neighboring island for them." Chopper, Nami, and Usopp nodded their heads in agreement, both because they knew that it was highly unlikely that their captain was here, but also because they didn't want to risk any more landslides.

"Also, I left the ship alone so I could assist you. It may be unwise to leave it alone even if it seems like noone is here. We should hurry back." Robin finished as she began tracing the path back to the ship.

Chopper slipped his captain's hat back around his neck while Nami and Usopp dusted themselves off a bit before following the historian back to their ship.

* * *

Pain

It was the first thing that registered in the swordsman's mind. That, and the feeling of sway in an odd direction. Zoro couldn't quite figure out what was happening, so he thought back to previous events.

 _What had I just been doing?_

 _Flashback_

 _As soon as Zoro saw Sanji charge in for another attack the swordsman did the same. He swung his trusted blades with all of his might. Putting everything he had ever learned from his sensei and every one of his opponents into each swing._

 _This was exactly one of the reasons he had trained so vigorously. One of the reasons he had always lifted those weights on the ship for what seemed like hours._

 _To protect one of his nakama. Even though he would never admit it, especially to the evil witch and ero-cook, but he cared for every one of them. So much so that he did do all that training. So much that he'd put his own life on the line to rescue theirs._

 _His captain needed him right now more than ever, so he wasn't going to let him down._

 _Zoro landed once more on his feet after doing an attack on the furry opponent in front of him. The animal stumbled backward landing on his back before rolling back to his feet as though it never happened._

 _Sanji appeared to be having a similar problem mere feet away. Everytime he managed to strike a blow that would do tremendous damage to another enemy, the beast would just walk it off._

 _Before Zoro could attempt to strike once more, a slicing pain raced through his back. The swordsman stabbed his katana into the ground as a support before turning to his other enemy. It gleamed down at him with bloodlust in it's eyes. It had just done the unthinkable to the swordsman._

 _It had struck his back._

 _Recovering from the sudden blow, Zoro pulled the katana back out of the ground and swung it at the second beast before turning back to the first one and doing the same. It gave him a second to regain his bearings, but instead all he got was his sight being filled with Sanji before smacked straight into a tree._

 _The blond cook bent in a weird angle from his spine at the impact with a tree and flopped to the ground like a broken toy._

" _Oi!" Zoro called without thinking._

 _Sanji rose from the ground stubbornly, coaxed by the sound of his rivals voice._

" _I'm fine, Marimo." The cook replied after he had risen back to his feet. Even with Sanji's attempt at easing any suspicion that he wasn't, in fact, injured it was easy to see how he was hunched over._

" _Cook," Zoro called once more._

" _I said I'm fine Shitty Swordsman!"_

" _I know! I have an idea."_

 _Zoro backed up to a position where he would be able to see every both of his enemies and one of Sanji's. It was pretty obvious that they weren't getting anywhere fighting these things alone. The armor pelt that they seemed to have would take too long for them to get rid of all of their individual opponents._

" _Okay, Sanji!" Zoro replied using the cook's first name. It definitely caught not only Sanji's attention, but his captains as well who had stopped his struggling over by the fallen tree as though he was trying to be sure he heard right, although he had a small smirk on his face despite the situation they were in. He turned his gaze to Sanji who was mildly gaping at him while at the same time keeping an eye on the three beasts circling him._

" _Now, see the fur-ball in the middle there?" Zoro asked motioning for the beast that was in between the both of them. Zoro saw that Sanji gave a nod and so he continued, "Now, we need to both attack it from opposite sides, got it?"_

 _Sanji jumped to avoid another swing from a beast that was not their current target while giving an affirming grunt. Zoro, now knowing how they were going through with their plan, made his move to get to the center beast. It was short lived however for the beast that was farthest away from him on the right charged forward. He turned right as it was upon him, but was unable to stop it's claws from cutting into him. Three deep slashes ran down his chest almost matching the ones on his back._

 _He was unable to hold back the cry that had been in his throat since the first time he had been wounded as he fell to his knees. Doing so brought on an alarmed call from his captain who was on the other side of the clearing. Zoro was satisfied with himself that he was able to get the animals away from the fallen tree that was keeping his captain hostage._

 _Zoro shakily got back to his feet as he slightly registered that Sanji had been thrown twice since he too tried to head toward their target. Both time he had hit trees with so much force the swordsman could've sworn he heard the tree cracking. Then again, that might not have been the tree._

" _Cook!" Zoro called as he ran once more toward their target. As he dodged another attack from the other beasts he could see Sanji making his way toward there as well and was just as effective at evading attacks as he was._

 _The targeted animal let out a great roar as both Swordsman and cook leapt toward it. Zoro slashed with all his swords and remaining strength at the beast as Sanji did his best with his own battered body._

 _When they both collided with it, they could tell they had been victorious with taking down this beast. Zoro could see marks from his swords on the rough hide as the animal toppled to the ground like a lifeless corpse. It's fanged mouth was split in two with a silent roar._

 _Both men landed on the ground and immediately fell to their knees. Zoro knew, they had four more animals to take down. They couldn't just give up right now, even if they were successful with taking one down. Luffy still needed to be freed and they needed to head back to one of their campsites, but hunger with a mix of wounds were taking it's toll on them. They didn't have enough energy to fight the other four at the moment._

 _Zoro began forcing himself onto his feet once more, only to fall back to his knees. He glared up at the animals who he assumed were gleaming at them as though they were their next meal, but instead he saw them gathered around the defeated beast. Sniffing and prodding to no effect. Eventually they let out sorrowful cries before they carefully dragged the fallen animal back into the forest with them._

 _Zoro let out a huff of mild amusement at their lucky win as he turned to the cook who had apparently passed out. Zoro was thinking about prodding him with his boot, but instead felt the need to follow._

 _Although, he instead tried to get back to his feet so he could free his captain, but black spots danced in his vision right before he followed his rival into a coma-like sleep._

 _The last thing he saw was Luffy's lifeless eyes as his captain continued to try and pry the tree off of him._

 _ **End of Flashback**_

Zoro winced at the memory. _Did we really have our asses handed to us by a bunch of over exaggerated bears?_ He questioned himself.

He forgot all about the pitiful self loathing as he felt himself land on the ground he had assumed he was already on. He himself softly groaned, but stopped immediately when he heard another groan from someone else.

Zoro felt an arm clumsily wrap itself around his abdomen before hefting him up onto what he assumed was a shoulder with a slight grunt. There was a few more seconds of fumbling with something before the swaying started up again.

Zoro had at first assumed that they were on the ship when he felt the swaying and ignored it due to the thought, but now he knew. Someone was carrying him.

Slowly, the swordsman's eyes opened to a bunch of blurry shapes. He blinked several times before he was able to see that they were in a forest. Probably the forest that was on the same island that they had been stuck on for multiple days. The swordsman turned his head some in an attempt to see other things. He still was a bit out of it, so much so that he didn't compulsively try and escape whoever was carrying him.

Looking farther down than he already was, Zoro spotted bright red. It was more familiar than really anything he had seen so far. That was the same color his captain wore on a daily basis.

"Luffy?" Zoro finally mumbled after the confirming observation. In reaction to his slightly alarmed voice, his captain gave a startled yelp and, once again, fell face first into the plant-covered ground.

* * *

 **So, I hope that wasn't that much of a cliffhanger. I honestly don't know if I'll ever be able to end a chapter without one . . .let's hope the ending isn't one D:**

 **Anyways, the next chapter (much like this one) may come a little late. If it is, don not worry. I am not going to throw away this story, it just means that I am preoccupied with other matters. Just be patient and I will have the next chapter up in a jiffy . . . ha "jiffy".**

 **Anyways . . . see ya next time!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Oh . . . My . . . Goodness . . . !**

 **Is this real or fantasy!? I have no idea! Do my eyes deceive me or do I actually have another chapter for all of you the day after the last update!**

 **I don't know why, but writing this thing was what I really only wanted to do. It took a few hours . . . at least 3.**

 **Yet, here it is! Yippeeeee!**

 **Before you read this, I was hoping someone could answer a quick question for me. I was trying to find a One Piece fanfiction that I read a while ago and I thought I favorited it, but apparently not. I haven't been very successful in trying to find it so I was wondering if one of you knew it. It's basically about Luffy losing his Devil Fruit abilities after being taken by this group of weird dudes . . . I don't think it explained who they were. But, anyway, he eventually finds out he can swim and do a lot of the things he wasn't able to do, but he is still trying to find who the people are so he can get his Devil Fruit back. It's not complete yet, but if anyone knows the name I'd be grateful if you could tell me.**

 **Now onto the chaptah!**

 **Disclaimer: (Never have and never will own One Piece . . . unless of course something miraculous happens . . .)**

* * *

Luffy jerked his head in the direction of his apparently awake first mate. He had just been walking through the woods, dragging his nakama with him when he tripped for the . . . he had actually lost count on how many times he had tripped over the stupid roots that littered every foot of the stupid forest.

But now, he finally heard some sort of response from them. The captain couldn't help but crack his signature grin at the familiar sound of Zoro's voice. Even if he sounded completely confused.

"About time you woke up!" Luffy nearly screamed with joy.

"Um, right . . . how long was I out?" Zoro asked as he caught sight of Sanji's blond hair on the other side of him captain. He was apparently still out . . . _whimp_.

Luffy's smile faltered at the question, "I don't really know." he started turning his unseeing gaze to the ground, "I've been walking for a while now. I was trying to get to the shore so that if Nami, Usopp, Chopper, and Robin got here they'd be able to find us better. It's been taking a long time though and I keep tripping."

Luffy's pout made Zoro slightly smirk. It didn't last though once the swordsman decided to look over his captain who obviously couldn't look over himself. The raven haired boy was covered in dried mud from head to toe. Scratches littered his entire body, though Zoro didn't really worry about those too much. His captain healed inhumanly fast after all. What definitely caught his eye though was the arm hanging limply on by his side. He'd never seen his captain have such an injury, but he for sure recognized what it was.

"Luffy, let me see your arm." Zoro ordered without another second of hesitation.

The young captain's smile fell completely off at his first mate's words and slowly gave Zoro his arm. Of course, being Luffy,he handed him his uninjured arm. He wouldn't want to make his nakama worry after all, even if the injury was bad.

Zoro gave a warning growl before shoving the offered limb away, "You know that's not what I wanted . . ."

Luffy huffed in defeat and attempted at lifting the limp appendage from his side, but to no avail. All the attempt did was send a surging pain through his whole body that he couldn't help but wince at.

Zoro saw this and carefully reached for said limb. He took it gently in both hands and lifted it up at a speed that wouldn't cause any pain. As soon as the swordsman looked at the arm and had it in his hands he knew what the problem was.

"Oi, Luffy," Zoro began, "You've never had a broken bone before have you?"

Luffy looked at him in puzzled confusion. Of course he had never had a broken bone before! He had been a rubber man for most of his life, and even the time he spent vigorously training with his grandpa before the time he ate the devil fruit he never ran into an incident where it would break his bones. Well, it would, but never did.

In reply, Luffy shook his head, "Why?"

Zoro let out a long sigh as he tried to think of a way to splint the arm, "Because that's exactly what this is." He finally said looking into his captain's eyes, "You broke your arm."

To say Luffy was a bit shocked was an understatement. Yes, he understood something weird had been happening to him ever since he inhaled all of that stupid smoke back on Merry, but he was still a rubberman! How can a rubberman break a bone?

"Stupid tree . . ." He mumbled under his breath pouting once more.

Zoro gently moved the arm back to it's owners side before standing, pulling out his katana, and chopping a mediocre sized branch off of a nearby tree. He broke off all the stray twigs and chopped the branch into three even sections.

The swordsman wasn't much of a doctor, but he did understand basic first aide. He sat back down in his spot and took hold of his captain's arm who, of which, was staring absently in a random direction. The swordsman found it odd and almost questioned what was wrong before he understood that Luffy probably didn't even know that he was seemingly staring off into space. It was just that he couldn't look at anything so there really wasn't much else he could do with his eyes.

Zoro tore three long stripes of clothe off of his white shirt. He had plenty more back on the ship. He'll just change into one of them if Merry finds them . . . _when_ Merry finds them.

He set the three sticks on different sides of the arm and then wrapped the strips of cloth probably so tightly around said sticks it may or may not have cut off circulation from the boys arm. When he was finished he checked his handiwork before setting once more at Luffy's side.

"There, now just try not to move it will you." Zoro said before he stood once more. Sleeping a little made him feel far better than he had after their squabble with the animals, but he could still feel the effects of hunger lingering. They had to find some sort of food, but the shitty cook was currently drooling on the forest floor.

All things considered, Zoro could've woken the blond up from his slumber, but he truthfully expected that he needed it. At least for a few more minutes.

Zoro wandered over to heft the cook up so they could continue on their way to the shore like his captain was trying to do when Luffy's words cut him off, "How are your wounds?"

Zoro looked at the raven with confusion before remembering that he did, in fact, have several wounds from the stupid bear things. He hadn't really paid no mind to them since he awoke, having to focus on his captain and everything. Plus, he also was more concerned about food and also had had a stray thought of drowning himself with sake once they got back on the ship.

"Um," Zoro began looking down to study the jagged slices running across his torso, "Their not that bad . . ."

He was adamant to not think about the wounds that also were on his back so he pushed all of those thoughts to the back of his mind. So, in reality, without the wounds on his back, they really weren't that bad. Or, in other words, he had had worse before.

"Zoro, don't lie to me . . ."

Zoro really didn't expect his captain to simply believe his harmless lie. That was just the way he was. Being blind didn't make him naive to the things he usually paid most attention to. His nakama's well being was one of the things he did care most about after all.

With a sigh Zoro corrected his lie, " I have a few cuts, but I'll have Chopper patch them up when he gets here."

Luffy's face turned toward the swordsman slowly so he could try his best to look into his eyes, "What about Sanji?"

Zoro was actually wondering that too, of course he'd never admit it. He knew the ero-cook passed out way before he did, and now he had been out far longer than him as well. The swordsman knelt down next to him. He remembered him getting thrown into plenty of trees, and he remembered the strange way he bent when his back met contact with one of said trees. That couldn't have been very good for his spine. The blond was also slightly hunched over when he spotted him walking and running.

"He probably has some fractured ribs." He told his captain who stared questionably at him.

"That means he has cracks on his bones right?"

"Yes, that's exactly what it means, Luffy."

"Well, that's not good is it?" Luffy asked. He didn't know really anything about medical stuff. He knew the basic, like if you are bleeding you probably want to put a bandage on it or if you feel dizzy you should probably sit down. EVen knowing this type of stuff, he didn't really follow any of it much to Chopper's anger.

Zoro sighed once again, "He'll be fine. He's too much of an idiot not to be." he said as he hefted the cook up onto his shoulder and took hold of his captain's bicep to help him stand.

With that they both headed off to the beach.

* * *

They finally were back at the location of their ship. The walk had been as grueling as the walk there, and yet it seemed like the walk back took a longer amount of time than the walk there. Of course they had motivation when they began their search on the island. To find Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji was why they were so eager to get off the ship and head onto the island, which was completely out of their character to want to search an unknown island.

Robin had noticed something specifically out of the ordinary though once they were within range of the ship to the point where they could see their proud pirate symbol waving in the air. She felt a presence that was not one of them. The area around the ship seemed . . . different than how it was when she left with Chopper.

Her suspicion was confirmed once a particular boulder was out of their way so they could get a full view of white sails. Marines.

"Marines!" Nami quietly squealed from behind Robin. On a typical day, Marines wouldn't of been a problem. The crew would simply kick all of their asses and head off to do whatever they had planned to do, but now they were running low on muscle. Muscle they usually relied on a lot when facing off against enemies of any kind.

"Are those the same Marines that we were fighting with in the storm?" Chopper mumbled not really expecting a reply. He knew that they were the same Marines, and that meant they had the same weapons. Their ship seemed to be damaged significantly thanks to some explosives Usopp had apparently been firing over there, and they didn't have nearly as many men as they did have before the fight.

"What should we do?!" Usopp squealed similarly to how Nami did, "It looks like they're searching our ship!"

Marine were in fact on Merry. They continuously went through door after door in a way that someone would search a building for a murderer, which was pretty accurately how Marines seemed to view them despite all the things they had done that would prove them wrong.

"Perhaps one of us can lure them away from the ship while the rest of us steer it toward the next island." Robin offered.

"Yeah, but who'd want to risk themselves being captured or killed by the Marines?!" Usopp spouted.

Without any words being said, the other Strawhats turned toward the sniper with a blank, and yet, maniacal stare. Usopp smiled nervously and tried scooting away from the plotting group, but Nami grabbed hold of his arm tightly, cupped a hand around her mouth, and as loud as she could called to the Marines, "Hello! I'm a member of the Strawhats. Come get me!"

About a dozen heads popped out of different doorways on the Merry right as Nami kicked Usopp out from the protection of the rock they were all hiding behind.

"Good luck long-nose-san." Robin offered right as Marines began charging toward him. Robin, Nami, and Chopper all scooted farther behind the rock while Usopp screamed and began running away from the charging crowd, shooting random ammunition every few steps.

Once almost all of the Marines were out of sight Robin lead the way back to the ship. They successfully got onto said ship and began preparing to leave. They, of course, couldn't leave Usopp even though they had seemingly had him fend for himself, so they couldn't leave.

The sight of the long nosed sharpshooter screaming and running back to the Merry readied the remaining crew to take off.

"RRRRRRoooooooobbbbbiiiiiiinnnnnn!" Usopp cried as he neared the ship. With a slight chuckle, the historian sprouted several arms that easily scooped up the sniper and pulled him onto the ship with ease.

"Let's get the heck outta here!" Usopp yelled as he regained his bearing as went to assist Chopper in lowering the sails. Robin, using her many arms, managed to get the giant anchor out of the water with some effort. Nami, lastly, was steering Merry away from the shore.

Shouts from Marines behind them could be heard going back and forth as they scrambled to get onto their ship and attempt to follow. Of course, the Merry was already too far by the time they were all ready to set sail once again. They're only hope was to attempt to follow where they believed they saw them head.

* * *

Zoro was walking ahead of Luffy. He could see the moon high up in the sky. If he had to guess, he'd say that the sun would rise in about five hours, that'd at least give each and every one of them time to rest. Sanji apparently was getting his z's in early, he himself wouldn't mind getting some as well before the sun rose, and Luffy, even through protests everytime he yawned, obviously needed some as well. After all, just a couple days ago he had been sick. Curly-brow said he had a fever at some point. If that was so, the swordsman was sure that his captain could use some more rest as well.

Zoro was gripping his captain's forearm with his free hand as they continued to stumble towards where they assumed was the beach. The swordsman hoped that in the morning they would be able to find something to eat. Those bears couldn't be the only things living on this island. Whether or not that was a good thing was a matter of opinion.

The faint smell of seawater and the sound of waves crashing ashore was interrupted by a sudden force from behind. Zoro quickly changed his footing so that he could regain his and his captain's footing. Once done, he gave a slightly frustrated groan. He couldn't really blame him, but that didn't make it any less annoying.

"You okay?" Zoro grunted once he felt the hand he wasn't gripping pushing against his back in an attempt to stand straight again.

"I'm not tired . . ." Luffy muttered sleepily with half closed eyes.

Zoro gave a condoling sigh before continuing on walking, "Yeah, sure you aren't."

Zoro hadn't really thought about it earlier, but he noticed that Luffy had apparently carried not only him, but Sanji as well away from where the battle with the beasts took place. Adding a broken arm into the mix as well as hunger and need for sleep and it was no wonder the kid was tired. Sure, he had rips into his flesh along his chest and back and was in the exact same boat with the hunger thing, but he was at least able to get some sleep.

The feeling of sand under foot brought Zoro back to the task at hand. He looked ahead and saw the familiar glint of the moon against the waves. After walking all that distance they were finally back on the shore. Out of mee curiosity, Zoro looked along the tree line they just emerged from and long and behold was their old campsite. The fire had long gone out (with some help from the rain no doubt), but they could still use it. The intended purpose was for them to be able to use shade from the trees while still being away from any unknown predators. Those predators were now known, but Zoro supposed that they could just pretend for now that they weren't.

They stumbled a few more steps until they were right next to the old fire. Zoro dug into the pocket of Sanji's coat and pulled out the cook's lighter before dropping him, a bit more gently than normal, onto the cool sand.

Letting go of Luffy, Zoro squatted in front of the old fire in hopes that the wood would somehow be able to light. He flicked the lighter a few times before the logs began to ignite. The leaves that they were using for shade probably helped keeping the wood from being completely soaked by the sudden rainfall that had since diminished.

With a content smile Zoro leaned back onto the log that was shielding them from the forest. He stuck his arms behind his head to use as a pillow and didn't even dare taking his swords off. Before closing his eyes he looked over at Luffy who had predictably gone out cold as soon as he was able to sit down.

He was leaning on the log, but Zoro noticed how he slid a few centimeters between the even breathing toward him. He ignored the observation and closed his eyes only to feel a _plop_ against his shoulder mere seconds later.

He didn't move however, but instead fell into a deep slumber just as the other two had.

* * *

 **Once again, thank you all for reading. I believe that this is probably the Climax and this story is officially reaching it's resolution.**

 **Please review, favorite, follow, answer my previous question . . . anything!**

 **See you next time!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello!**

 **Here is a brand new update from yours truly.**

 **Thank you to the people who had answered my question last chapter. I found that Fanfiction and reread it like I had wanted to. It's called The Quest For The Gomu Gomu no Mi and I definitely recommend it to all of you. Great story.**

 **Anyways, I didn't really see any comments that needed addressing besides that. Although, I thank all of you for reviewing.**

 **Now, onto the chaptah!**

 **Disclaimer: (If you did think that I own One Piece, then you may just be an idjit.)**

* * *

Sanji had awoken early the next morning. He felt like he had been kicked half a dozen times by Zeff in his spine. The blond simply began to open his eyes to figure out where he was. He remembered their fight with the weird bears, but he didn't exactly know how he got here. The blond cook recognized the area as their first campsite. The one where Luffy had laid unconscious for about a whole day before freaking them both out with the whole "blinded" thing.

The sea ahead of him sparkled with the rays of the morning sun. Sanji smiled slightly at the beautiful sight he had grown used to since he first embarked with Luffy and the others on their quests to fulfill their dreams.

That struck Sanji. He quickly sat up, hurting his back even more so in the process. The blond flailed more multiple seconds before continuing what he had sat up so sharply for.

Sanji scanned around the campsite until he finally spotted them. A head of green moss-like hair tilted so much so he couldn't see the owner's face and wild black hair that stuck up everywhere from the other's shoulder. Sanji let out a short sigh of relief, still tentative to hide his worry from the Marimo. At a slow pace, Sanji managed to crawl his way over to the other sleeping forms. He had no recollection of what happened after he and Marimo beat the single bear thing, but obviously other business had occurred right after, or else he'd still be lying with moss-brains there and Luffy'd probably still be stuck under that tree.

Once Sanji made it to his two sleeping companions he looked them over almost immediately. He noted that his captain's arm was apparently wounded based on the way that some crappy first aid was administered to it. Besides that, Luffy was caked in mud from head to toe and looked to be in a long much needed sleep.

Zoro on the other hand had three deep lacerations across his chest. They'd seemed to had stopped bleeding, but Sanji could tell that they must've been pretty gory based on the Marimo's shirt taking on the look of being dyed red.

Besides the wounds, Sanji smirked slightly at the careless sight in front of him. Luffy had a small smile to his wide open drooling mouth as he heavily leaned against Marimo's right side, head resting on his shoulder. Zoro had his head leaning against his captain's head for support. He had his arms loosely crossed while his swords were laying in his lap. Unlike the typical scowl that usually took up his face even while he slept, the swordsman had the look of peace to his loose expression. Not quite smiling, but nearly.

Sanji huffed out a short shuckle before standing to the point he was allowed to thanks to his back. HIs whole upper body felt like it was crushed. _Ribs probably have some damage too_ Sanji glumly noted. He was just thankful that they were only slightly damaged by the feel, and not having punctured anything.

The cook reached into his pocket for a cigarette, only to remember that he had none with him. He ran his fingers through his hair, _I'm gonna go crazy if I stay here any longer._

To try and occupy himself, Sanji wandered a little ways into the forest. He might as well busy himself with a task that had needed taking care of since they first were dumped on the island.

Food.

He was slightly surprised that Luffy wasn't going crazy himself by the lack of it for as many days as there was. He usually was so enveloped in food that he had even started trying to eat in his sleep. He hadn't quite gotten the hang of it, much to the relief of Sanji, but it was still in the works nonetheless.

Up ahead, Sanji noted the differentiation of color from a continuous green, to a yellow and brown. The cook decided that he might as well check into it since the other two were probably still dead to the world.

When he approached the yellow and brown, he was very pleased to see the thing he had assumed it was. Coconuts and bannanas. Probably not that desirable to the meat-loving Luffy, but great even so. Without anymore hesitation, the blond cook slammed his foot into the side of the tree with bananas. Down rained probably about a dozen of them. He then did the same with the coconut tree and fled a few feet away as to not get hit in the head by them.

When as many as he could get were on the ground, the chef gathered them all up slowly and began his return to their campsite.

Judging by the sun, it was most-likely only about six in the morning. It wasn't that odd for him to have awoken at such a time naturally since he typically did every day on the Merry. Zoro and Luffy on the other hand had varied schedules for sleep. Zoro slept most out of the whole crew (possibly even combined). Luffy just didn't care for scheduled anything and slept as he pleased, typically getting yelled at by the caring and organized Nami~swan.

Now, Sanji wished he could've been off the schedule. He had little to do other than make the others food and rest his back for hours on end until they woke up and chowed down. Soon, that would be the only thing for all three of them to do.

It reminded the cook too much of when he was stuck on that giant rock in the middle of the ocean with little to no food along with Zeff. How Zeff had sacrificed his leg, much like how Luffy had lost his sight. How they slowly starved and weakened, nearly the same as how they had been unable to find any food until right at this moment. And of course them being stuck awaiting a rescue that may never come.

It sent chills up and down Sanji's back.

He knew Nami-san, Robin-chan, Chopper and Usopp would definately search high and low for them. He still worried that they may not have gotten out of that horrid storm. The thought always lingered in the back on his mind despite how much the others and himself tried convincing him that there was no way that they didn't.

Sanji finally made it back to the campsite and dropped the stash of food he managed to find with care. Marimo and Luffy were still snoozing up against each other as though they didn't have a care in the world.

With as much caution for pain as he could, Sanji lowered himself to the ground with the help of the large log that separated them from the forest. Once down he took several seconds to regain his bearings before he took a deep breath and looked at what he could to with the bananas and coconuts. Wasn't much really, they could eat them as they were he supposed, but that wouldn't please the cook. His whole purpose was to turn good food into masterpieces that people could enjoy, not just survive off of. But, in this situation that's what they needed the food for anyways.

Another connection between the event with Zeff on the rock.

Sanji set to work trying to create something. _Anything._ His hands longed to do the job he had resigned himself to do since before he could remember. Even after a mere few days of being stranded on an island, Sanji could tell that he needed this _now._

The sun continued to rise throughout the series of about two hours. Zoro and Luffy slept on all the while as their cook distinguished his need to cook.

He ended up making a strange concoction out of the bananas and coconut that stayed in the coconut shell. He cooked some sort of leaf and put it in there as well.

As his companion's eyes began to open, Sanji couldn't help but sigh in relief and triumph over successfully creating something after what seemed like so long.

Looking at the ocean, Sanji put all of his faith in the others to find them soon. This wouldn't be a replay of when he was a child.

* * *

After about a full hour of Usopp yelling at Robin, Nami, and Chopper for throwing him to the wolves, they all fell into a sleep. All except for Nami that is.

The red-headed woman sat beside Luffy's "special seat" knowing he wouldn't appreciate her taking it when he was gone. She sighed to herself like what felt like continuously. How couldn't she? They were headed for the second island currently. It would probably take up until the next morning for them to reach the island and if they weren't there . . . Nami didn't know what she would do then.

It was the continuous worry for those idiots that kept her from sleeping. She was thankful that the others were able to, even though in the back of her mind she wondered if they truly could. Perhaps they were just lying awake staring up at the ceiling in their own thoughts.

Little did she know she was completely correct by thinking that.

She, however, simply watched the horizon wishing morning would come quicker so that she could see for herself that they were fine and alive and safe. The fear was eating up at her. The fear of the unknown.

What if they weren't alright? What if they were injured and needed their help and they weren't there to help?

. . . And they weren't there.

Or, what if they weren't even on the island. Somewhere deep beneath the waves. For Luffy, it was more believable . . . but that didn't mean it was easier to think about.

Nami shook her head furiously trying to make all of those thoughts disappear. There was no way that idiot, any of them, could ever DIE like that! They were too stubborn. Too strong. They had dreams to accomplish and they weren't going to die until then.

Not on her watch.

Nami pulled her legs close to her and wrapped her arms around them, suddenly feeling chilled. She wasn't sure if it was from the cool night or her haunting thoughts. She buried her face into her arms and leaned even further against the railing.

It wasn't until a familiar feminine voice called for her that she looked up, "Are you okay, Navigator-san?"

"Yeah, Nami. It's not healthy to stay out here. You'll catch cold." A squeaky voice followed.

"What's wrong, Nami?"

Said navigator looked up to find her three nakama looking at her with concern. Robin stood closest kneeling down in front of her with a small, reassuring smile on. Chopper stood not too far away, still clutching that mundane strawhat close to his chest. Usopp stood looking out of the galley door which was wide open allowing for the light to illuminate the entire deck.

"Nothing", she lied putting on a fake smile, "I'm fine." she felt so much like Luffy doing that. Always smiling and trying to reassure his crew that he was fine. Stupid really.

"Do not lie to us, navigator-san." Robin said in a forceful voice, but somehow never truly abandoned the softness of it.

Nami sighed in defeat and unwrapped herself from her arms and knees, "Just . . ." she stopped to think, "What if they're not there? What if I fail at finding them?"

She looked back at the ocean, "I'm supposed to make a map of the world. To be a great navigator. But, how can that happen if I can't find my captain and nakama?"

She heard footsteps come toward her. Nami assumed it was probably Usopp since it took a few seconds for the sound to stop. It was followed by smaller sounding footsteps coming nearer as well.

Before she knew it, she felt something warm and soft wrap around her shoulders. The navigator turned to see Usopp pulling a blanket around her as he sat next to her on the railing. Typically, Nami may ask with confusion what he was doing, but she accepted the attempt of comforting her and took the blanket to wrap further around her. She also felt something fuzzy hug her leg and looked down to see Chopper there, having set the straw hat down on her lap.

She unconsciously smiled at all these acts. Robin didn't move to physically comfort her, but she stood nearby, offering silent support. That was all Nami could ask of her, but when she looked up into the older womans face she got a simple sentence that spoke more than she could imagine.

"We must have faith in our nakama."

Nami smiled sincerely as she looked back down at the hat in her lap. Her captain's treasure. He had practically thrown it away from his protection in an attempt to save _his_ nakama. That was how much faith he had in them. Now she had to believe in him. _Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji . . ._

"Their too stubborn to die right?" Usopp questioned beside her with his own smile.

Nami huffed, "Damn right they are."

* * *

"Sanji! Where's the meat?!" Luffy asked after he ate three times more of the strange coconut banana pudding Sanji made then both he and Zoro combined.

Sanji huffed in annoyance still eating his portion with one arm guarding it so Luffy didn't try and eat it, "If you want some meat, try fishing over by the shore."

Zoro eyed him as he sat there watching with slight amusement. It was nice to have a light moment for once on the god forsaken island.

Luffy, hearing what Sanji had said, pouted in response, "Okay."

He then bounded over to the shore. There weren't really any fish swimming in the water right off the shore, though Luffy couldn't see that, so he kept slashing at the water with hopes that somehow he'd catch a fish. He never did . . .

As he did this, Sanji had to keep himself from chuckling at his captain's determined antics. Even without sight, he still tried his damndest to do the same things he always did. Trying to get meat just so happened to be one of those things.

Zoro still sat content with his katana in his lap, coconut-bowl sitting empty at his side. Now that they had at least something in their stomachs he could already feel more energetic than he did the night before. It was amazing what a little sleep and food could do for someone.

Sanji began moving all the discarded coconut shells together, feeling that even though they would eventually leave the island, he still felt that it was basically his temporary kitchen and he had been trained to clean up his work space after cooking.

After a few minutes of trying to blindly catch a fish, Luffy let out a defeated sigh. There was no way he'd catch a fish like this. Instead of self pitying himself he simply charged back to where he knew the campsite was and sat down in between his nakama.

"That was good, Sanji! Thanks!" He happily cried.

"Well, monkeys do like bananas . . ." The cook said absently which caused the quiet swordsman nearby to snort in mild amusement.

"I don't get it . . ."

The three of them talked for minutes on end, having nothing better to do. They eventually ran out of food, much to Luffy's displeasure, but it didn't matter for almost twenty minutes later a voice was heard in the distance.

"LUFFY!"

"ZORO!"  
"SANJI!"

Zoro and Sanji turned toward the sound with shocked and disbelieving expressions. In the distance they saw the familiar figurehead and flag. The patched up wood that made up the ship they sailed day and night on.

And on that familiar ship was who they had waited what seemed like so long to see. An orange haired girl, long nosed man, middle-aged woman, and a reindeer.

Zoro and Sanji jumped up and ran as far as they could on the beach where they wouldn't be in the water. They yelled for their nakama who continued to get closer not quite believing their eyes.

In that moment Luffy jumped up from his seated position, turned toward where he had heard his nakama, and yelled as loud as he could, "GUYS! WE'RE HERE!"

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 **Well, that's all for now folks. No, it is not over yet. I think one or two more chapters will suffice. Don't worry though, I will try my damndest to make the next couple chapters amazeballz.**

 **Now, thank you all for your reviews, favs, follows, etc.**

 **I apologize for my non-giddy attitude for I am tired. So, I will try to wrap this up quickly.**

 **Next chapter should be up within the week. However if it is not, do not worry. I am in a play for my school and rehearsal is nearly everyday (for some reason). Included in that is the fact that Homecoming is coming up and I'm actually going to it (HOLY CRAP!)**

 **So, please, be patient and I will update as soon as I can.**

 **Adios Amigos/amigas!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello my good readers!**

 **I apologize for the lack of updates recently. I've been quite busy, but I know that that is no excuse. This last Thursday and Friday I had performances for my school play. Funny story, I was unaware it was my part coming up and then this friend of mine came running in saying "your part's up!" I jumped up from my chair, ducked under the costumes and hangers, hit my head on a music stand (I got a headache right after that), dropped my phone on the ground, tripped over someone's outstretched foot, and sprinted all the way to the other side of the stage. When I got there it was right when my cue came up and I had to go on stage out of breath. So, the whole time I'm up on stage, I'm trying my best to survive without oxygen because coming on stage huffing and puffing isn't exactly the best thing to do XD**

 **Good thing is that, no one seemed to notice *fist pump* it was quite thrilling though might I just say.**

 **Anyways, enough of my banter. I hope this is a sufficient update for those of you who have been wondering when I was going to update. Please, sit back, grab your popcorn, cuddle with your doggy/kitty, and enjoy this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: No matter how much it would flatter me to have someone tell me I am , I am no where near as talented as Oda senpai :3**

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As soon as he heard the scraping of wood against sand, Luffy sprinted towards where he knew the ocean was, yet didn't care because that was also where his nakama were. If it wasn't for the fact that he completely missed the ship, or anyone that was previously on it, it would've been a sweet moment, but instead he ran right into the sea, falling face-first into the weakening water.

With a sigh, Sanji dragged his sorry butt out. It wasn't a bitter moment, Sanji couldn't blame him after all, he wanted to go run right over to Nami-san and Robin-chan and give them both giant smooches . . . but, he was a gentleman! He would do no such thing . . . yet.

When Luffy was once again on dry land, Sanji assisted him over to his other nakama earning strange and slightly curious looks from the four of them. Knowing they were right in front of him on the sand, Luffy lunged forward, scooping them up as much as he could without his stretchiness. The crew didn't back away or anything of that sort. Instead, they welcomed the show of affection graciously, hugging him back.

Luffy eventually let go allowing for Sanji to run over and hug Nami, who surprisingly didn't punch him in the face. She just stood there and let him knowing he was probably going crazy being stuck on an island with Luffy and Zoro away from her and Robin.

Zoro pulled him off ensuing an argument between the both of them with Nami yelling for them to "knock-it-off-this-was-supposed-to-be-a-sweet-moment-you-idiots".

They both huffed, Zoro at both Sanji and "the witch, and Sanji for only Zoro. Luffy smiled happily throughout the entirety of the arguments and chatter between them. It was nice. They weren't worrying about their nakama or about how they might get off the island, or even about how they might not starve in the coming days. It was normal, and Luffy had surprisingly missed the 'normalness' they'd been deprived of for the past couple days.

Chopper's hoof on Luffy's leg snapped him out of his thoughts. He jumped at the contact, but immediately recognized the feel of his nakama's hoof and smiled gallantly down at the small doctor. It would have been a convincing expression of Luffy being perfectly fine, that is if Luffy was actually facing the right direction. He smiled at the sand, and no one stood there. Chopper cocked his head to the side before piping up.

"Luffy?" He asked tapping his captain again, "You okay?"

Again Luffy continued to smile at the sand, "I'm fine Chopper!"

Sanji and Zoro weren't sure why Luffy hadn't bothered to mention his current handicap, but they took to watching the interaction as the others have done.

Chopper creased his brow, "Luffy, open your eyes for me."

The raven haired captain flinched and hesitated, but did what the doctor said nonetheless. When he did Chopper let out a gasp and quickly turned into heavy point in order to look at his captain on the same level. Clasping Luffy's face in both hands, Chopper studied the pale looking orbs that had taken over his captain's once vibrant eyes.

It took a few edging minutes for the crew before Chopper finally finished his observation, "When were you guys gonna tell me?!" the doctor suddenly yelled, "This _is_ pretty serious!"

Sanji and Zoro leered back at the sight of their doctor so angry over something they did . . . or didn't do for that matter.

Luffy set his hand on his doctor's shoulder getting remarkably better at guessing where everything was, and spoke to him in a calm yet serious tone, " Sorry, Chopper. I hadn't meant to keep it a secret."

"Wow, wow, wow," Nami began stepping toward Chopper, "What secret?"

Chopper shrunk back down to his normal form and looked up at Nami nervously, " Well, Luffy . . . um . . . can't see."

Nami gave a deadpanned look, "Maybe that's because he has his eyes shut now."

It was Chopper's turn to give a deadpanned look, "I mean he's blind, Nami . . ." he mumbled quietly.

Nami gaped, "What!?", She ran over to her unusually quiet captain and cupped his face with both her hands making him stumble back in shock, "Why didn't you say so earlier, you idiot?!"

"Zoro and Sanji should've."

"Oi", they said in unison.

Nami let out an exhausted sigh, "Figures, right when we find you guys and solve a problem there's just another thing we need to fix."

"But, it's not permanent, is it, Chopper?" Usopp asked what he had been wondering the whole time.

Chopper fiddled with his hooves and looked down at the sand, "Well, I . . . I don't know."

Everyone in the crew gaped except for Luffy who seemed to deflate under the news, "What?!"

Chopper wanted to shrink down. He didn't like giving them bad news. It wasn't exactly _bad_ news, the cause of the blindness would be how he could determine whether or not it was permanent or not. He didn't know the cause and thus didn't know whether or not his vision would come back.

"Luffy," Chopper began once the other's questions ceased, "Do you know how this happened?"

Luffy turned his attention back to his doctor. The captain's enthusiasm had gone down exponentially, but it was no wonder. Afterall, he had practically just been told that he would never be able to see his nakama's faces again, or the sea, or _anything!_

"Yeah," Luffy said without the slightest shred of doubt, "It was that smoke stuff that the Marine's had used the other day."

Chopper deflated now. One bad thing after another rammed right into their small crew, "Oh." Chopper muttered.

Luffy's head cocked to the side, 'You okay, Chopper?"

"Just fine. You shouldn't be worrying about me." the doctor replied as he untied the string connected to his captain's straw hat from around his neck. When it was undone he held it out for Luffy, only to remember that Luffy couldn't see and nudged his hand with it instead. Immediately, Luffy recognized the feel of the familiar straw against his hand and took it in both hands, "Hat!" he yelled with his normal, head- splitting grin. Shoving the hat back on it's designated spot on his head, Luffy beamed down at where he assumed his doctor was, "Thank you, Chopper!"

Chopper gave a whimpery smile, "Don't go thanking me yet, asshole! But, you're welcome, idiot!"

Sanji, Zoro, and Usopp all smirked at their doctor's antics while Robin smiled contently. Nami, however- even though the situation in front of her was just as important-, was thinking of different matters. Those marines very well could have followed them. Even with them leaving before hand, they could have went in the exact same direction and catch up any minute.

Right when she was about to mention this to the others, it was as though the universe was playing with her, and the previous marine vessel was growing larger on the horizon.

Coming up blank as to what to say for several seconds, Nami snapped out of her stupor and clutched Luffy by the shoulders, turning him so he could look at the horizon. Once done, she pointed right at the ship, "Look!"

Nami wondered why there was no answer until she turned to see a deadpanned look on, not only Luffy's, but all of her nakama's faces. Then she remembered. He couldn't look. Couldn't _see_. Giving an exasperated sigh she shoved Luffy to Usopp and yanked Zoro over to her.

While Sanji swooned mournfully behind them about how she didn't drag him towards her and instead picked "the-stupid-marimo-who-fights-with-butter knifes", Nami pointed towards the ship, "The marines followed us!" she exclaimed.

Zoro flinched from the volume at which Nami yelled, "I can see that, witch."

"Are they the same as the marines we saw on the previous island?", Robin asked in such a calm tone that you'd think they were in a fancy restaurant drinking tea.

"Probably."

"I don't like those guys . . ." Chopper whimpered grabbing the leg of his captain who was absolutely confused.

"We should hop of Merry and get outa here!" Usopp screeched beginning to run towards their beloved ship still docked on the beach, but a strong hand caught his shoulder before he could get very far. To say Usopp was surprised when he turned and saw his captain's blank eyes staring at the ground with one strong hand clutched firmly onto his shoulder was an understatement. Luffy could barely walk straight. How was it he knew where he was was?

"We're not going onto the ship." Luffy aid in an authoritative sounding tone. One that told them to listen to him and trust in him no matter what he had in mind. It was one that he used whenever he was dead serious.

"Luffy?" Nami mumbled, confused. Why wouldn't he want to get out of there. escaping those guys would be the wisest move. Even with having all of them reunited again and most of the marine men wounded to some extent, it wasn't something that would be simply taking them down without any sort of difficulty.

Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy all looked like they needed a good meal, a gallon of water to drink, and a few day's rest. Not only that, but Zoro had six jagged claw marks covering his back and front, Sanji was bent over uncomfortably as though his back was hurt, and Luffy was blind and seemed to have hurt his arm somehow.

Nami noted, even without much medical knowledge, that the wound her captain seemed to have been inflicted with was one that needed to be splinted. Had he somehow - no, that would be impossible. Luffy was a rubber man, he couldn't seriously have a broken arm. And for God's sake, where were his shoes?

"We can't go on the ship because it would be safer to wait here." Luffy repeated with more information, "They probably have those smokey ball things still, and they could attack us while we're on the boat. It's be safer for all of us if we just waited and kicked their asses on dry land."

Nami shook her head, "They still may use the gas even on land." she pointed out.

"Then at least you wouldn't have to worry about us falling in the water." Robin chimed in.

Usopp was clenching his teeth as he listened to his nakama slowly agree with his captain in staying on the island. He REALLY wanted to leave. They found their nakama. They had their ship. They were ready to leave, but they were apparently not going to do that for he watched as Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Robin, and Chopper all turned towards the horizon and watched as the marine ship came closer and closer.

They were going to fight them. They were dead set on it.

* * *

 **A/N I had actually mulled over whether or not this would be a good ending for the chapter, but decided to continue. :D Now, please continue! Don't mind me just commenting randomly.**

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The marine ship was there before they knew it. Slamming into the sand similar to how they had, they were at least thankful for the fact that they hadn't slammed _into_ their ship. That wouldn't have been good.

Yells from orders being given and received on board the vessel echoed down to where the Strawhats stood in the sand. None of them could really understand what was being said, but they prepared themselves for the oncoming attack nonetheless.

The Strawhat's traded glances (all except Luffy who stood there like a very serious statue). The voices on the enemy ship had suddenly quieted down. Now the only sound was their own breathing and the slap of waves against the shore.

As suddenly as the stillness had been, the chaos came back. Several dozen marines, some carrying wounds and bandages, came jumping over the side of their vessel and tumbling down toward the slightly surprised crew.

"Back up a bit!" Sanji shouted as he grabbed the collar of his captain's vest and dragged him backward a few feet. Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Robin, and Zoro did the same. Zoro drew his swords while Nami and Usopp drew their weapons. Chopper then turned into his heavy point, his own way to fight against enemies.

Without a second thought, Zoro charged forward with his swords, going after the marines who chose to wield that chosen weapon instead of the rifle. He figured that it would be wisest to do so, not only because he was the only one who had a strong defense against the sharp weapons, but also because it thrilled him to fight against fellow swordsmen. Even if said swordsmen fell like dead flies.

While Zoro did that, Nami, Usopp, and Chopper all slowly took out their own opponents. Chopper and Usopp would cry out in fear every once and a while with Nami having to scream at them to "get-their-act-together-and-protect-her-damn-it!"

Sanji chose to stay near his captain. It was the close enough so he could see both his Nami-san and Robin-chan and at the same time be sure his captain didn't get skewered and, even more worrisome, shot. Without his Devil Fruit abilities, which seemed to have vanished for the time being, it was nearly certain that the his young captain could very well be vulnerable to something that would've been brushed off any other day. Deep down, that scared Sanji to no end. Luffy may have had a point in staying on shore instead of fighting on the Merry Go, but even so, he was as vulnerable as a baby bunny at that moment.

When a sword came swinging toward the obviously anxious and confused captain, Sanji immediately put a stop to it. Swinging his foot down onto the marine's arm and then kicking him away. The action would have been simple. Something he could do without an effort, but right after he did the attack a shooting pain came from his spine making him fold in on himself with a horrid groan then causing his ribcage to ache.

Luffy heard this. He knew the sound of a nakama in pain. He hated that sound more than anything, and yet recognized it more than many other things. Right when he did hear it, he whipped in the direction of the sound. Of course he wasn't able to see anything. It was merely habit to try and find whatever bastard would dare to hurt one of his crew members.

A spluttered gasp sounded off in the same direction, and that alerted Luffy as to where Sanji was. The young captain moved to go and assist in whatever way he could, but something stopped him. He heard two popping sounds then. His body jerked forward without his permission, nearly falling face-first into the ground. Luckily enough, Luffy ungracefully caught himself before this could happen.

Luffy wasn't exactly sure what had happened, but he began to form a guess as soon as he felt two mind numbing pains in his lower left shoulder and lower right abdomen. A warm, wet feeling slowly grew from the two pained areas. With his will and remaining strength, Luffy stumbled forward a few paces until he ran into a solid object. A person.

Sanji was still folded in on himself, but he was frozen in place. He hadn't seen anything; only heard two more distinct gunshots than the others that continued to go off around them. And now, he felt someone run right into him; groping at his back in an attempt to " _see"_ who he was.

Forgetting all of his pain, Sanji reached behind him and snatched one of Luffy's hands. He spun around and clutched his captain's shoulder to steady him. That was when Sanji knew that his prediction was correct. Luffy had been shot, and it had actually wounded him. Two dark red splotches covered Luffy's left shoulder and lower right abdomen. One may have mistaken it for water if they didn't know any better. Afterall, Luffy typically wore red anyways. Sanji, however, knew better. That dark red liquid was blood. And there was a lot of it _outside_ of where it was supposed to be.

A shout or two around them sounded off. It sounded as though they were coming from Nami-san and shitty marimo, maybe even Usopp and Chopper, but Sanji honestly didn't know. He was too busy looking into his captain's pained face. Luffy's pale eyes moving back and forth without knowing what was happening and where he was. Maybe even who Sanji was.

But, when Luffy spoke it was surprisingly a relief, "S-Sanji, are you okay?"

Sanji nodded, then remembered that that meant little at the moment and quickly responded, "Idiot, worry about yourself. I'm perfectly fine."

"Good. I thought I heard you groaning or somethin'." Luffy replied.

Sanji grimaced, that statement reminded him that he was, at the moment, still in pain. Maybe if he just walked it off. That seemed to be what worked half of the time anyway. Although, Sanji doubted walking off a bullet wound - _two_ bullet wounds - would work the same way.

Sanji was snapped out of his thoughts by a silver glinting from behind Luffy. The cook focused on it and impulsively stepped in front of Luffy once he realised exactly what it was. Several more shouts echoed around them as the _bang_ went off. A flash of green and orange came running towards him as he fell backward from the force of the bullet. Two hands pressed against his back from behind and stopped him from falling to the ground. How was it that even after being shot twice, blinded, getting his arm broken, and being basically starved -on Luffy standards- was Luffy still able to be standing and assisting him?

Another pair of hands grabbed his upper arm. The continuous _cling_ of swords clashing against each other echoed around them. Sanji could see orange hair from the corner of his eye right before he faded into blackness.

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 **A/N Poor Sanji! Thought about ending it here again, but I just still felt like I should continue. I feel like there is a little too much drama and stuff going on! I don't know! HELP ME FIGURE THIS OUT!**

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Luffy suddenly felt his heart sink as Sanji slipped from his arms into Nami's and was, as far as he knew, lowered to the ground in a state of unconsciousness. It was all his fault. If he had just gotten away from the fighting then Sanji wouldn't have been hurt and shot. Neither would he.

Luffy felt a fire growing in his heart as he heard a marine laugh from his side, "Serves the scum right!"

The young captain clenched his teeth. Nami was apparently talking to him. Something about whether he was okay or not. Why was she asking him? Sanji was the one who was in trouble. More voices from surrounding marines flooded Luffy's ears.

"It's Pirate Hunter Zoro! Fire!"

"Get the redhead!"

Luffy's face contorted at these orders. They were plotting to hurt his nakama. To _kill_ his nakama. The sound of gunfire continued and made Luffy realise something. He had to do something.

Since he couldn't see, Luffy tried to focus on his hearing. On trying to hear the footsteps that were near him. Zoro was protecting Nami, Sanji, and him as far as he knew, but Zoro was also wounded and weak at the moment. days without good enough nutrition and lack of water would do that to a person. Even someone as strong as Zoro. Luffy had to step up and help in protecting his nakama. That was the job of a captain, so he would have to do it, even if he couldn't see the threat.

Luffy heard footsteps approaching him. If they were charging towards them for a melee attack, then that meant that they were wielding a sword. Swords weren't exactly the best weapon to try and defend against. Especially when you're a rubber man. Having rubber bones only meant that it was easier to slice through than normal bones. Then again, he seemed to be taking a vacation from the whole "rubber man" thing.

Included in that was that Luffy's reflexes weren't as good as they usually were. Blood loss from his two gunshots, a broken arm, and being blinded just ended up becoming a huge problem.

Luffy took a deep breath, and when he sensed the marine directly in front of him he plunged his fist forward. Bones were felt being crushed from where the contact was made. A gasp escaped the marine, and then he went flying away; apparently crashing into several other marines in mid-air.

Luffy stumbled a little, but smiled brightly at his victorious attack. Several more feet came stomping towards him, a few fists went flying and then so did they.

The young captain let out a victorious laugh, but was interrupted when another sharp pain shot from his left thigh. Another bullet wound.

"Luffy!" Nami cried from where she sat on the ground with Sanji. With a growl, Luffy shot his fist toward where he assumed the bullet had been shot from.

To both his, and surrounding nakama and marines alike, his arm stretched. Far from the lengths his limbs would go normally, but that was besides the point. His fist made contact with what felt like a face before it came retracting back to his side.

He paused for a moment, taking in the new, glorious discovery, then shot out again. randomly. He did not think about whether or not he would hit one of his nakama, for he did not see the time he whacked Usopp straight in the back of the head sending him face-first into the ground and Chopper screaming for a doctor. Or, the time he knocked Zoro's feet out from under him taking five marines down with him in a disgraceful dog-pile.

Luffy was completely and utterly relieved. On a whim, Luffy attempted a bit of an experient. The young captain squinted his eyes, willing them with all his might to see _something. Anything._ And then he saw it. He _saw_ it. A bit of green right in front of him on top of an array of light blue.

 _Zoro and the Ocean._

He could _see._

 _He could do this!_

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 ** _Well, how's that!_ That seems appropriate enough to end here! I am already starting the next chapter. Hopefully it will be up sooner than this chapter. **

**I had this weird question to ask you all. Do not worry! I am not bringin my dirty mind out. You see, I am in Spanish and am _loving_ another language! I was wondering:**

 **What languages do all of you speak. I know I've had people form other countries reading this, so I am just curious.**

 **Have a lovely night, and I'll see you al next time :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello once again, dear readers!**

 **Sorry, once again (for like the 20th time), for the late chapter.**

 **Thank you for all of your responses. I was actually surprised to see how many of you spoke multiple languages. Quite remarkable actually . . . not sure how you feel about it though.**

 **Anyways, I have a brand new, sparkly, and new-chapter-smelling chapter up! And let me tell you, I was kinda freaking out about this one. All the action scenes and my attempted drama.**

 **So, with no further comments, remarks, or anything, please enjoy this chapter!**

 **(I do not own One Piece because if I did it would've probably been canceled LONG ago)**

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Zoro watched as his captain landed punch after punch with his somewhat reclaimed rubber consistency. A sly smirk resided on his lips. He had been a little worried for a second there. Seeing his captain get shot at was typically not that big of a deal. The bullets would just bounce right off of him and, most of the time, hit a marine at the rebound. But, it seemed like that wasn't the case at that instant. The bullets tore right through him and all he did was watch in shock. _Idiot_ he berated himself. He should've known that since a broken arm was inflicted on his captain, Luffy's typical immunities wouldn't be the same anymore.

Zoro no longer had a smirk, but instead gleamed down at the motionless cook after he successfully sliced a marine away from him. _Stupid shitty cook,_ he thought, _getting yourself shot._

Nami had the blond's head sat comfortably in her lap as she tried her best to ward off any marines that snuck past her green haired companion above her. Her throat tightened at the sight of her friend that she held in her arms. They had to get out of there soon so that he could get medical help immediately from Chopper. She could tell his prone state wasn't only due to the bullet wound. Sanji had been through plenty of harsh fights. It was actually part of their normal routine, but even people as strong as monsters had their limit.

Her thought wandered to Luffy. She looked up and winced as she watched him slam his broken arm right into a marine before getting punched in the face by an unseen enemy. _He seems like he's able to see somewhat,_ Nami thought with mild hope, _but he's still having problems._ She could tell by the way he continuously shook his head or scrunched up his brow trying to will his eyes to work normal.

Every time a marine ran up to Luffy with a sword or rifle she felt unnerved. Nami's only option was to trust Luffy to protect himself to the best of his abilities; in the meantime, she had to get Sanji away from there.

Nami slid Sanji's head off of her lap and into her arms before setting it gently on the ground, "Zoro!" she called earning a whip of the head in her direction from the out-of-breath green haired man, "I'm gonna get him to the Merry. Can you keep marines off my back?"

Zoro took in several more huffs of air before nodding. He rushed towards them and slashed two marines away. They were lucky, however, and had brought their blades up to block the attack from any real damage.

Nami, in the meantime, picked Sanji's top half off the ground from under his armpits and began dragging him. She began making her way toward their docked ship at the edge of the beach trusting Zoro wholly to protect both of them from any blade or gun.

"Why are you so heavy?" Nami questioned to no one once she approached their ship, then she called for Robin who was nearby, "Robin!"

Robin didn't need anymore to be said for her to understand what she was needed to do. With a wave of her hands, two dozen appendages sprouted from the side of the ship, reaching out for the blond chef.

Nami dragged Sanji further a few more feet, handing him off to the outstretched hands, and watched as he was handed off from hand to hand. He was safe now up on the Merry.

Zoro rushed passed her as she began searching the crowd of enemies, "Chopper!" she called ignoring the pained cry of a marine being sliced up by Zoro, "Where are you?"

From amuck the marines came their doctor, rushing towards Nami while pulling at least three different marines off of him, "Nami, where's Sanji?" he asked once he had gotten all the marines off.

Nami pointed up to the deck of the Merry, "He's up there. Go take care of him while we take care of the rest of these guys."

Chopper gave a stern nod before climbing up the side of the ship with the help of Robin's appendages. Once Nami could no longer see him, she turned to Zoro who flicked his katana to the side after defeating the three marines that were on Chopper. He gave her a look. Nami wasn't quite sure what it was. Perhaps he was trying to ensure her that Sanji would be fine. She expected him to say something like 'That idiot will be fine, he's too stupid to understand when he's supposed to die', or 'Stop worrying witch, we have other things to worry about'. But, nothing was spoken. He simply turned away and ran back into the fight. _What is that supposed to mean?_ Nami wondered as she whacked a marine with her bo staff.

When Chopper got up on the deck of the Going Merry, he nearly had a heart attack. Sanji lay sprawled out on deck with a giant red stain covering the lower right of his light blue collared shirt. The recognizable blond hair was draped across half of his slack face in a tangled mess of golden strands.

"Eeeek! Sanji!" Chopper squealed running over to the chef, "Someone call a doctor!". It took a few seconds of panic before he realized, "Oh, I'm a doctor!" he then set to work on examining and fixing the cook up. He noticed that, besides how serious the gun wound was bleeding, it wasn't really that deep. Also, the doctor noticed a quantiful amount of bruising around Sanji's ribcage. Chopper, deciding it's be best to finish his work of Sanji in the cabin, dragged the prone chef into the galley.

Luffy, back down on the ground, continued his fighting. He knew, even without having his eyes at the time, that there was no way that the marines had very many more soldiers left to spare. Any minute would be the end of this fight, and his nakama and him could finally leave this island and continue their adventure. Plus, he really felt like he could go for a nap and a lot of meat.

His broken arm clouted into another marine in what felt like their face. Luffy flinched slightly at the foreign feeling. A rubber- broken arm didn't feel at all right. It was like a rubber band that had been cut in half and was expected to take on a stable form. In other words, it wasn't exactly working correctly. After said marine was sent flying, Luffy smirked at his victory failing to hear very many other footsteps at the moment and not seeing any real changes in his vision despite its lousy condition. It would seem that the marines were pretty much running dry of men now.

Luffy turned toward where he imagined his nakama were. He saw the Merry's figure in the distance and smiled at the idea of finally returning to his beloved ship.

"Guys, I think we're done her-" he was cut off by the sound of multiple metallic rings. He willed his eyes to focus as he tried to locate the source of these sounds. A small tap on his foot drew his attention immediately. Luffy looked down at where he expected to see the object and was met with a shining glint from the sun against a silver orb. It was in that moment Luffy understood what was happening, and he felt his stomach drop to his feet.

"Luffy!" He heard Usopp call before the sound of air being released flooded his ears. Despite his failing eyes, the young captain could see what looked like smoke surrounding him and he recognized it immediately. Without another thought, Luffy went running blindly to where he remembered seeing the Merry Go. Tripping over marines over and over again didn't even phase him. He just knew he had to get out of there and make sure Chopper and Robin did the same.

Suddenly, a feeling of weakness came upon him. His legs turned to rubber (pun unintended) and he fell to the ground, gasping in as much fresh oxygen he could before covering his face with his shaking hands. He cursed himself for not being able to get the the Merry faster. How far was he? Far enough that he couldn't see his ship through the dense smoke, apparently. Maybe he could push himself to get there despite feeling so weak. It might be his only option or else he'd have to be saved by one of his nakama once again.

Robin felt two hands gripping her arm tightly before she was pulled sharply away from the growing smoke cloud. When she looked over at the owner of the hands, she was surprised to see Mrs. Navigator's red hair blowing in the passing wind as she pulled her towards the safety of their ship.

"Robin, we have to get you away from that stuff." she explained, stopping besides the ship. Robin didn't waste anymore time, knowing what the Sea Stone smoke could do to a Devil Fruit user she grew multiple arms out of the side of the ship and lifted herself up to the deck. When she first stepped foot on the wooden boards, she didn't see any other person, or deer for that matter, there, but after taking a few steps towards the cabin, because she felt that would be even more impenetrable than outside, the door to the cabin squeaked open to reveal a confused furry face.

"Robin?" the doctor asked recognizing her, "What happened. Are we finally ready to leave?"

Robin over the railing at the ground below and saw how the smoke was spreading. It would probably be best if they did leave, but that didn't mean they were ready to. The raven haired woman rushed over to the cabin door and pushed Chopper lightly inside, "We're not ready to go yet, doctor-san."

Chopper cocked his head to the side, sparing a glance at Sanji's prone form next to the still broken table. They really had to fix that eventually, "Then what's going on?"

Robin contemplated whether or not to tell the young doctor for a split second and ended up seeing no reason not to, "The marines decided to use the Sea Stone gas. If we go outside and inhale it we'd be put in peril."

Chopper's face was blank for multiple seconds following Robin's explanation, "Wait a minute!" he yelled suddenly understanding the meaning behind what Robin had said, "Where's Luffy?"

The older woman cupped her chin in a thinking manner, "I believe captain-san is still below on the ground."

"What!"

"Hopefully swordsman-san, navigator-san, or long-nose-san will go help him . . ." she mumbled to herself absently still cupping her chin thoughtfully.

"Well, we could always go help him!" Chopper yelled moving to open the door, but was stopped by Robin's hand stopping his movement, " I don't believe that's be wise, doctor-san. Unless, of course, you want to end up in the same condition you were in last time."

Chopper puffed out his cheeks pouting, before turning towards Sanji who still lay unconscious on the ground, "Then, could you help me with this, Robin?" he asked beginning to make his way over to the cook. Robin was, out of the crew, the best person to assist him with a surgery or something of the sort for she remained calm most of the time and did not shy away from blood or other things some may be squeamish of, "We have to get the bullet out. I still haven't been able to do it, but if we have to wait anyways . . ."

Robin could sense the disappointment, worry, and anguish radiating off of the doctor, but smiled nonetheless, "Of course, doctor-san."

Back on the ground, Zoro had found his way to Usopp, telling Nami to either stay by the ship, get on the ship, or follow them. The gas was difficult to see through; if Nami were to get in the way it would just make it even more difficult, but he also knew she could be adamant and rebellious and decide to go after them anyways so he felt it best to leave that an open option, which, much to Zoro's displeasure, she took. Now, the three of them huddled together, a bit too close for Zoro's taste, walking through the thick fog.

In the distance, Zoro heard a man shout, "Get up! We have them where we want them, now get up!"

Zoro's face hardened. If they found Luffy it could very well be over for him. His captain may have the ability to surprise people and prove them wrong, but even he wasn't immortal. The gas itself was enough to do quite a bit to his typically strong captain. Its effects were even present now, preventing him to see to full capacity. Add some revenge seeking marines hunting him down into the mix, and Luffy's got himself into a tight bind.

"Zoro," Nami accosted, "Do you see him anywhere?"

Honestly, Zoro felt a little annoyed. If he _had_ spotted Luffy anywhere, did Nami really expect him to keep it quiet? Despite this emotion however, he decided to answer with a simple grunt and head shake.

"Usopp?"

"Nuh uh."

Out of the blue, two marines came bursting through the smoke swinging their swords towards Nami and Usopp. Zoro was quick to counter this, and drew his katanas to block. He shoved one of them backwards with his foot before several loud cracks came echoing in their direction.

"They're shooting at us!" Usopp squeaked ducking slightly with Nami doing the same.

Zoro growled, feeling one of the bullet slice through his left bicep. These fucking marines couldn't just let them get their captain and leave, could they?

Luffy, unbeknownst to his nakama, was only mere yards away. Struggling with his own matters, but not being attacked. At least not yet.

He repeatedly told himself to not breath, but despite his efforts his lungs couldn't handle it no long and he sucked in a hesitant breath of the weakening smoke. It immediately made him feel even worse than he had not too long ago. His vision was already bad, but now it was fading to black before he willed them to continue working to their mediocre level. His wounds were wearing him out just as much as the gas was. The bullet wounds he was inflicted with still bled significantly, he knew it even without looking down at the several holes.

In truth, all his body really wanted to do was to sleep.

But, the young captain forced himself to stay conscious. He had been a burden to his nakama for the past days. Forcing them to look after him when he couldn't for himself. It made him sick with himself despite not being able to have done anything to prevent it.

Luffy could hear the commotion near him. The sound of Usopp yelling " _They're shooting at us!"_ That specific sentence was enough to arouse some sort of will from within him, but he knew not what he could do with it. His nakama were in trouble, and it was his job as captain to keep them safe. And look what he was doing; laying on the sandy ground having a hard enough time breathing.

The young captain rose his head as much as he could to try and _see._ That was all he wanted to do, and he had been on his way to recovering his vision, but then this happened. An obstacle. A difficult obstacle at that. Luffy was successful enough in his attempt to see. He could spot Zoro's famous green hair and how it moved with him in his battle against whatever opponents there were. Also, Nami's colorful clothing as well as a form beside her that, if he squinted, looked slightly like Usopp.

Luffy pushed himself onto his elbows, hearing footsteps rushing towards him. That meant he was going to be attacked just as his nakama were. Shooting out his foot in a random direction for blind defense, he caught someone in their gut and sent them flying away.

He was drawn back to his nakama with a squeal from Nami. Luffy turned and spotted Zoro's form seemingly trying to get back to his feet. Why was he on the ground? Stupid Zoro, fights are supposed to happen when you're standing. The more Luffy thought about it, which was a miracle in itself, Zoro seemed hurt. Why was he hurt? The young captain remembered how he had to carry both Zoro and Sanji almost all the way to the shore because they were unconscious. Zoro had said he had been hurt by the weird fuzzy monsters, but he had also said it wasn't that bad.

. . . Stupid Zoro lied.

His vision faded out once again, and when he forced it back he could see the glint of a sword held high, ready to strike down a form on the ground. Typically it would have been Zoro finishing off his opponent, but this time it was the opponent ready to finishing off Zoro. Nami and Usopp screamed his name from where they were on the ground, being attacked by one of the three marines attacking them. Luffy could see shadows of more marines from behind the smoke. Guns could be seen. It was ironic how he could make out all of the negative details of the scene being unfolded before him.

The young captain pushed himself higher up, onto his knees, then one foot, then both until he was standing straight up. Given, a little wobbly, but standing nonetheless. He took a step forward, but stopped with that nearly falling over. The raven haired boy gave a wheeze as he fixed his footing. Trying to focus back onto his objective, Luffy looked back towards his nakama and froze.

The man above Zoro began his final attack. As the sword was flung down, Luffy felt himself release something. The stress he had been feeling for that whole battle seemed to flood away, if only for a second. His vision seemed to clear so much so he could make out the faces of his nakama. Usopp and Nami were facing him, looking unsure of what to do. As though they wanted to run over to him and support him, but knowing that the marines would shoot them down as soon as they did. Luffy smirked.

He'd fix that . . .

Not knowing entirely what was going on, Luffy felt something inside him sort of _click_. The gas around him whirled around him, thinning slightly, the marines in front of him who were brave enough to even dare to hurt his nakama had their eyes roll back into their head as they fell to their knees soon to be followed by the several marines being covered by the smoke's density. This left Nami, Usopp, Zoro, and him to be the only remaining people on the ground with any sort of consciousness.

Nami, Usopp, and Zoro were the only ones left as soon as their captain fell to his knees and hit the ground with a soft _smack_ losing consciousness immediately. The last thing Luffy saw was his nakama standing, and beginning to run towards him.

* * *

 **Woooh! That, my dear readers, was more difficult than it would've seemed. *sighs* I hope I gave this chapter justice. I had read some reviews for an earlier chapter saying how you felt that Luffy should've used haki on the marines because it was like the perfect circumstance to use it. Well . . . IF YOU WOULD'VE BEEN PATIENT!**

 **Just kidding, but I wanted Luffy to sort of work out his blindness issue a little bit too. After all, he always is breaking down obstacles. Emphasis on the whole obstacle thing I had put in :)**

 **Anywho, next chapter *begins crying* is the last one! The conclusion to this story and my first ever completed story with multiple chapters. I'm kinda excited!**

 **Please, review, favorite, follow, recommend, or give me some ideas for other stories, after all, I'll be needing another story to work on! Although, I already have a cool idea :) but I shall not spoil for thou.**

 **Good day to you, ma'ams/sirs!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello, dear readers.**

 ***Begins bawling* This is *sniffle* the last chapter!**

 **Dang, I know it's been a few months since I started this, but honestly it doesn't even feel like that long. I don't really know why. Hmm mysterious.**

 **Anyways, I thank all of you who have read this since the first chapter. Be it that you found this right when the first chapter was published, somewhere in the middle, or in the future.**

 **Hope you all enjoy.**

 **(Disclaimer- I really, really, really, really, REALLY! Don't think I own anything having to do with this series other than this story.)**

* * *

Usopp was the one who made it to Luffy's side first, failing to catch him like his original goal was. So, with an aggravated huff, he skidded to his knees beside him, pulling him into his arms to await the company of his other two nakama.

While Zoro and Nami came up next to them, Usopp made an observation. Luffy, in a word, looked like absolute shit. But, even so, peaceful all the same despite all the obviously severe wounds littering his frame. Sleep could do that to people.

"We have to get him to the Merry." Nami spoke up, leaning over to have a look at her captain herself. Usopp gave a nod and began raising his limp captain up with him. Zoro's hand went to grip Usopp's shoulder. With a slight start, the sharpshooter turned to look at the swordsman with a questioning gaze, "I got him." was Zoro's simple statement.

Zoro was upset. Not just upset. He was angry. With himself, no one else. He allowed for his captain to get wounded this much. He was the reason his captain was in this condition. For crying out loud, he had been so weak as to almost get himself killed by a lowly marine. He was, with a slight chill, at that marines mercy in that moment. He would've been dead now if it wasn't for whatever Luffy had done. All he could do for his captain now was to at least carry him to the ship, fatigued or not.

Nami immediately snatched Zoro's hand and pulled it away from Usopp, "No you don't," she scolded disapprovingly, "You're no better than he is right now, we need to get you back to the ship also, dummy."

Zoro looked ready to oppose, but was cut off when Nami, surprisingly, pulled his arm around her shoulders and began helping in supporting the swordsman. Zoro could only stare at her in mild confusion, still trying to support his own full weight, too stubborn to let the witch prove him wrong. WIthout another word, Nami motioned Usopp towards the ship, "C'mon Usopp, let's go."

As they trekked to their awaiting ship, they stayed rather silent. Usopp had pulled Luffy onto his back while Zoro had resided to allow Nami to take more of his weight on her shoulders against his will. Nami smirked at him in victory causing the worn-out swordsman to roll his eyes in mock shame and annoyance.

"What," Usopp began, sparing a glance at Luffy's face resting on his shoulder, "was _that_ exactly?" he asked. The sharpshooter was a little baffled that Nami and Zoro didn't question it at all and instead took it in stride. Whatever Luffy had done, it had taken out multiple marines just in the nick of time. At the time, Luffy looked like death itself. Wobbling on his feet where he stood. The gas was affecting him as well, and he remembered what it had done days ago before he got washed off the ship. But now, all the gas around them seemed to have dissipated nearly completely.

"I'm not sure." Nami answered turning to Zoro for an answer, as though he was the "Luffy encyclopedia".

Zoro just closed his eyes, "Luffy is full of surprises." he stated, "Isn't he?"

Usopp nodded silently watching as his captain's nose twitched in his rest, "Yeah."

Usopp's thoughts became fully concentrated on a particular doctor once, they had gotten close enough to the ship, who had taken to screaming for them to "hurry-up-so-we-can-leave-Zoro-and-Luffy-get-your-butts-up-here!". He was sure, with Chopper's help of course, his captain would be fine. Sure, Chopper would completely freak out most-likely once he got his hands on Luffy, but soon the "professional doctor Chopper" would come out and patch him - and Zoro and Sanji - up to be good as new.

When they got on the ship with the assistance of Robin, Usopp found that he was 100% right. Chopper began screaming for a doctor only to realize that he was the doctor and set to work, yelling at Zoro to sit down. Surprisingly, Zoro complied with little resentment.

First the doctor checked over Luffy. Usopp watched hesitantly as Chopper pulled the red vest up to have a look at the bullet wounds. The sharpshooter felt like gagging when he saw the multiple holes covering his captain's torso. Looking at Zoro, he found that the swordsman held a sollum face of . . . guilt? Nami, to Usopp's right, had a hand to her mouth and turned away, refusing to look at the grotesque sight before her. Robin, like always, had a stone face. No emotion at all.

Before Usopp knew it, Chopper dragged Luffy into the cabin, where Sanji was apparently, asking if Usopp could help Zoro to get there. With more acrimony, the rugged swordsman complied once again with the offer of assistance. Not really an offer, it was an order form his doctor.

Once Usopp had settled Zoro in the cabin, he was ushered out by an anxious Chopper, and was shut out with the door slamming shut.

Robin watched the the Usopp reluctantly stepped away from the cabin porthole and went to sit by himself on deck, leaning on the railing, waiting. Nami, not far away, did the same, staring off into the distance. Robin found it curious. How Luffy's crew waited so restlessly to here news of their captain and crew mate's condition. They cared so much, but why?

Nearly an hour later, Chopper came out of the porthole, "Their going to be fine, of course. Zoro's still awake, but he'll probably go to sleep soon because, well . . . that's what he does."

"What about Luffy and Sanji?" Nami asked patiently.

Chopper sat down on deck, similarly to how Nami and Usopp both had been earlier, "Sanji's already showing signs of waking up, and I can't really say about Luffy. He got shot and wounded quite a bit, but he can be surprising when it comes to recovery rates."

"So," Usopp started, "They'll all be fine then?"

Chopper nodded in confirmation causing Nami and Usopp to let out a long and lengthy sigh of relief. Robin couldn't help but smile, though she knew not why.

* * *

It was soft, warm, nice. That was the first thing Luffy thought as he began to gain knowledge of his surroundings. A plush surface was under him. He could tell based upon the way he sunk slightly into it. A bed? He wondered. Must be, snores could be heard close by. Loud snores, and yet, familiar snores.

Deciding he was reading to see what was happening around him, Luffy began to crack his eyes open. Bright rays of sunlight flooded his vision . . .

His . . . clear vision.

Or at least clearer vision. He cared not, feeling a sudden feeling of glee. With a head-splitting yawn, Luffy called out, "Fooooooooooooooood!" only to be met with another loud snore from whoever was still in the room with him.

He scanned the room silently after finishing his yawn. They seemed to be in the cabin, not particularly having a designated infirmary. Looking down at his side he could see his nakama had brought in three mattresses. He occupied one, but the other two were completely vacant. With a confused hum, the young captain continued his scan of the room to finally see green. Green hair, to be more specific, on his first mate's head who leaned against the wall closest to him with his katanas wrapped in his arm. Thick bandages were wrapped around his torso and upper bicep. Despite all of those observations, the one Luffy favored was how Zoro's head was rolled back, mouth wide open, snoring in a deep sleep. A peaceful, at ease sleep.

Luffy smiled before attempting at sitting up. It was an arduous process, but with support from his hands he managed to do it. The young captain then noticed for himself exactly how similar Zoro's and his bandages were. Around his own torso and arm were the white bandages as well. Although, the ones on his arm was so thick he could barely move it. _Why would Chopper want that?_ he questioned.

Without another thought, the young captain stood himself up, having to roll over to the wall to help support him. He was still tired and . . . and . . .

. . . and hungry . . .

With a conniving smile, Luffy left Zoro and made his way to the door. Being sure to be quiet as to not awaken his sleeping nakama, Luffy climbed the ladder, creaked the door open, and slipped out. Shutting the door behind him, Luffy began making his way to the kitchen. He would have to go upstairs for that. Based on the fact that no one was one deck, nor on watch Luffy assumed they were all in the kitchen.

He smiled and took a few steps towards the stairs. Once their, Luffy gripped the railing and began his descent. Step after step Luffy went up until finally he was at the top. Without another moment's hesitation, the young captain sprinted away from his support and burst through the kitchen door, falling flat on his face, hands still high above his head.

"Foooooooood!" he cried, voice muffled by the floorboards of which his face was smashed into. After a while of silence, Luffy felt a small poke on the back of his head. When he chose not to react, the poke turned into a sort of light jab.

"Ow!" he yelled, truly not feeling any pain. When he looked up he saw his navigator giving a questioning glare, "What was that for, Nami?"

"what are you doing?" she asked, choosing to answer his question with another question.

"Nami, what do you mean 'what am I doing'?" Luffy asked earning a questioning glare this time, "I came in the kitchen to get food! That's what kitchens are for!"

Nami just huffed in disbelief, but just took her captain's behavior in stride and went to go sit in the corner since the table was just a bunch of scrap wood right now.

Tearing his attention away from his red-haired navigator, Luffy looked towards the stove, "Sanji! Food!" However, Luffy discovered it wasn't Sanji standing at the stove, but instead Usopp. Sanji was behind him sitting at the destroyed table, watching Luffy intently.

"Yo!" Usopp waved happily, eyeing his captain enthusiastically. It was always a good thing when Luffy chose to put food before most other things.

Luffy didn't respond, but rather began to get up, only to be interrupted when a distressed doctor came charging in yelling something inaudible only to trip over his fallen captain and falling on him. Chopper quickly regained his composure not noticing how how he now stood on the back of his captain's head.

"Guys, I went down to check on Luffy, and the only one in there was Zoro who was just sleeping! I don't know where Luffy is!"

All the other Strawhats simply continued on with what they were doing, having decided not to spell out exactly the answer Chopper was seeking was. This caused the doctor to begin ranting at them about how they "had-to-find-Luffy-damnit!" Near the end of the rant however, Zoro walked in-on Luffy as well- yawning with a wide mouth.

"Good morning, moss ball." Sanji mumbled taking a sip from some tea he had prepared earlier. When Sanji had woken up, he immediately headed for the kitchen. Of course he would! After all, he was the chef of the ship and he hadn't been able to go in there for days! He felt it was appropriate to do so, but of course, right when he got in there, the caring Nami~swan worried that he would hurt himself some more and told him to sit down while she pulled Usopp in to start cooking. Despite Nami-san's warnings, Sanji at least made himself - and Nami-san and Robin-chan - some tea. He felt it quenched his needs enough. Now he was just happy to see is idiot captain and the Marimo up and about- of course he would never say that aloud.

Speaking of the Marimo, Zoro looked down at the "squishy" thing he had stepped on and immediately stepped off upon realizing it was Luffy.

That left Chopper, still asking the others why they weren't worried about where Luffy was. He greeted Zoro, "Zoro, you were down there, did he leave?"

Zoro gave a small sigh, "I'm not sure, but I think you have some dirt on your hooves."

Chopper cocked his head as he watched the swordsman walk by, "Dirt?" the young doctor mumbled. What did that mean? He looked down at his feet and immediately fell off of his captain's head, "Luffy?!"

The young captain shot his head up with a toothy grin, "Hey, Chopper."

While they went about the usual routine of Chopper scolding him for being up and about when he should be resting still, Zoro sat on the other end of the broken table, across from Sanji. Robin decided it was okay to stroll in, book in hand, ignoring the two on the ground. She sat next to Nami in the corner of the room, choosing not to sit on the splintering wooden table.

"Oh, Nami-san! Robin-chan! You needn't sit on the floor! Here, you can take my and stupid Marimo's seat!" Sanji called. Immediately standing up.

"I'm not moving." Zoro stated, sipping the tea Sanji had set aside for Nami earlier, but never drank out of trying to navigate their way to the next island.

"What did you sa- that's Nami~swan's tea!"

"It's really fine, Sanji-kun." Nami consoled on the ground, trading glances between him and Luffy, "The ground'll be fine until I make you, Zoro, and Luffy buy a new table at the next island."

"Okay, Nami~swan! Then I'll just sit on the floor with you!" Sanji cooed.

"What?!" Zoro thundered.

"You heard me." Nami calmly said with a small smile, "It'll probably be about 1,000 beli each."

Zoro stood from the table, "No table costs that much, you witch!"

"Don't speak to Nami-san that way, Marimo!" Sanji defended, stopping in his descent to sit next to his lovely Robin~chwan and Nami~swan.

"Shut it Ero-cook!"

"What did you call me?!"

Nami cringed at the beginning of the argument which evolved to Zoro grabbing a spatula and slapping the top of Sanji's head with it, who in turn, scolded about using cooking instruments as weapons. Zoro cared little and slapped him with it again.

"They are being quite rambunctious, wouldn't you say navigator-san?" Robin questioned Nami light heartedly, tearing her eyes away from her book, "Hopefully they do not rip open their fresh wounds."

Nami reeled back, "Uh, why would you say something like that?" she asked taking in the sight of her crewmates around her. Her nakama.

Chopper was still scolding the laughing Luffy on the ground. The young captain had repositioned himself to a cross-legged seated position. His eyes were shut and his smile was as big as Nami ever remembered it. She imagined her captain was happy to be back. That was probably an understatement in fact. She knew she was glad they were finally back. The idiots had been gone for only a few days and everything had gone to hell!

She was a bit surprised that they were already, seemingly, back to normal. Injuries still remained, but no one would have guessed. With the way that Sanji and Zoro were wrestling around, causing Usopp to freak out about them almost getting him tangled up in it while he finished cooking. The way Chopper continuously tried to get Luffy to allow him to do a check-up on him. The way Robin now read her book without a worry in the world beside her. The way they sailed smoothly on open seas.

And when Nami saw her captain's straw hat laying comfortably on his back she knew,

"Those idiots will be fine."

* * *

Fin

* * *

 ***Long drawn out sigh of many emotions* + *A lot of stretching***

 **(I don't know if any of you noticed, but I was kind of setting up the arc that comes after this in chronological order with Robin's emotions and such :P)**

 **Well, my dear readers, I am happy/sad to finally say that this is over. IT' A MIX OF EMOTIONS! The only thing I can do is hope that you all enjoyed this story of mine, I know I enjoyed writing it for you and reading all of your comments.**

 **I wish you all well, you can PM me or put a review on here if you have anything to say.**

 **So, now, good bye to all of you for the last time.**

 **Adios!**


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